Forgettable

Rating: 5/10 (7 April 2002)

(contains minor spoilers)
I saw The Fast And The Furious opening weekend. I loved the previous year's high-budget car movie, Gone In 60 Seconds, so I was looking forward to this one. It was ok, but I was pretty disappointed. I was looking for something that would really push things a bit and add something new. Instead, you get this mediocre cliched undercover cop movie.
The only two scenes that stand out after seeing the movie are the first street race where Paul Walker kills his car off and the final scene. The rest, even the highway scene either have been done way too much before or just aren't very impressive.
This is a B-movie. It may have made over three times its budget, but The Fast and The Furious is still a B-movie. It's an action movie too, so there really aren't any demanding roles here. You could put Walter Cronkite in Paul Walker's role (maybe even Michelle Rodriguez's role) and you wouldn't be able to tell the difference. That's because Vin Diesel carries the film. He's the only thing that saved this one. He adds quite a bit to the action scenes. He's a great actor too. That's always a plus. Still, he can't save The Fast and The Furious from mediocrity. Maybe if the characters and action scenes weren't so cliched, this would have been better. The car freaks may be impressed, but I'm the kind of guy who would take an old 1988 Pontiac over what they were driving.
6/10