Ok man, but I don't think I'll need the seatbelt...

Rating: Null/10 (11 October 2001)

"The Fast And The Furious" came up to Spanish theaters on October 5th. Next day I saw it. And... what can I tell? It gave me a light sour taste... This is the type of movie with a completely disorganized plot and script (Note: the script is not such, it's a strange melange made up of sequences in which cars are the real stars) in which the sucession of events is so fast and bad sequenced it ends up giving you the general idea of a bad movie. The script shows very typical clichÃ©s of the genre. Although there are two or three points I liked, like uncovering the main character's real job from the start, these show no originality, as they have also been used in other movies. But... what can I ask for in a mega commercial movie, specially aimed at youngsters and teenagers demanding an incredibly simple and void story with nice boys and girls, tuned cars and tremendous doses of adrenaline? Nothing, that's the answer. This is one of those typical films, perfect to spend with your friends a friday afternoon or wait for it to appear at the video rentals and watch it at home with your boy/girlfriend, your dog or just some pop corn.
Rob Cohen is a competent director whose main characteristic is that he can deal with almost any kind of genre. Let's remember he has experimented with fantasy ("Dragonheart"), drama (TV series "thirtysomething", "The Skulls") and action ("Daylight"). He certainly knows about this. "The Fast And The Furious" can be considered a revitalisation to his filmography, a gate to a new sector of viewers. And I have to say that he does almost fine, as he gives just what these viewers ask for! And he certainly had resources to achieve this.
Certainly, the best of these resources, and I admit I loved it, was the infinite exposition of tuned cars and the introduction into the world of tuning. Oh man, those are the kind of machines almost all of us car lovers would like to drive, despite the bit of fantasy some of them are gien (the 900 Horsepower monster or the easy it appears to be manipulating nitrous oxide, when certainly it isn't, if you passed your chemistry at school...). The cars, the chases, the races and the scenes in which they are the stars are interesting, enjoyable and quite exciting. From my point of view, they surpass those of "Gone In 60 Seconds", which was claimed to be the end of Millenium absolute car movie (what a lie...), and ended up in another exposition, more calm and simple, of luxury cars. And that's another point, because those shown in "TFATF" are pure fan design, autos we certainly don't see so commonly as we can see a Porsche Boxster or even a Hum-vee (also, I enjoyed more the Hum-vee scene in "The Rock", than that of"Gone In 60 Seconds").
About the acting, I can't tell much. I only knew Paul Walker from "Varsity Blues" and Jordana Brewster (beautiful, I have to say!) from "The Faculty". Nothing about the rest. I already told the cars are the main stars, actors are the supporting cast.
About the music, that seemed interesting, I must say. Some nice techno and drum n'bass songs can be heard throughout the film. The good about it is that, at least, it gives rhythm to a practically sank show.
I think that's about all. You've seen my recommendations, it's just a movie to see, have some good time and then forget. If you need a seatbelt for this, you may grab one, but just for 15 or 20 minutes. And a little fact: even in the translation of the Spanish title you find a total different thing, but that still corresponds to the rhythm of the film: "A Todo Gas" (Full Throttle)... Vote---> 5.5, but because I can't enter the vote in decimals, it's a 5