Fast and Furious

Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) is seeking revenge after the murder of his girlfriend, Letty (Rodriguez) while he was on the run. FBI Agent Brian O’Connor has been assigned to hunt down a Mexican drug lord who is smuggling heroin across the border. Both men’s personal quests lead them to a street race, where the winner will join the drug lord’s empire as a driver, and get close to the man himself.

Fast and Furious reunites the cast of the original 2001 movie, along with a few new faces. The format remains largely unchanged as well, with Tokyo Drift director Justin Lin taking an ‘if it ain’t broke’ approach to the fourth film in the franchise. The plot is as intricate and twisted as the nitrous mechanisms of the cars which are, of course, the real stars of the film. Drug barons, beautiful women, border crossings and double crossings are all woven together, and rivals Toretto and O’Connor must learn to work together to bring down their man.

Both the lead actors are clearly having a lot of fun here – Diesel’s adrenaline pumped, drawling thug particularly is a pleasure to watch, as he heads off on an all out rampage in a selection of ridiculously powerful cars. The Fast and Furious franchise is by no means intelligent, thought-provoking cinema, but it sure as hell is entertaining.

Marcus Kelly