The Fast and the Furious (2001)

The Fast and the Furious (2001)

*** (out of 4)

Brainless but entertaining action film about cop Brian O'Conner (Paul Walker) who goes undercover to get inside the street racing crowd so that he can try to bring down a group hijacking semi trucks. He gets in good with Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) and his crew but of course they don't know his true identity. THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS isn't to be taken serious because if you did then you'd see one flaw after another in regards to the story itself. Like a lot of summer blockbusters, this one here has had way too many Red Bulls as every single scene is just over-the-top and has some testosterone going overboard. That's not to say this is a bad thing because there's no question that the film remains entertaining as a pure action movie as we're given some likable characters as well as some great racing scenes. I think most people are going to be coming to this thing for the fast cars and the various chases and this here is where the film won't let you down. There are some terrific stunt sequences, although I will admit that a few of them appear to be too much CGI and not enough actual driving. With that said, there are some great ones here including the ending, which I won't spoil here. It also doesn't hurt that we're given some characters that we can like even if I think the screenplay doesn't do a couple of them justice. Both Walker and Diesel are very believable in their roles as is Michelle Rodriquez, Jordana Brewster and even Ted Levine in his role. I will say at times it's somewhat hard to root for the main guys even though we do like this. This is especially true during the final sequence when the truck is being hijacked. Still, THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS is a fun ride as long as you don't expect some serious piece of art.