Before I went to see "The Fast and the Furious," I checked out Roger Ebert's review of it. I didn't read the whole thing, though. I never read Ebert's full review before I see the movie. Although he's probably the best film critic there is (and Rene Rodriguez from The Miami Herald is undoubtedly the worst... I just felt like throwing that in there), he tends to say a little too much about the movie, leaving few surprises while watching it. Because of this, I look at how many stars he gave it, then I read the first and the last paragraphs only. After I see the movie, I go back to read his review in it's entirety. I'm really glad that I didn't read the whole review before seeing "The Fast and the Furious." There's a pretty surprising twist that I didn't expect, and the trailers did a good job of keeping it a secret. Unfortunately, Roger Ebert spills the beans. I wish he would stop doing that. Otherwise, he's a great critic.
By the way, in case you were wondering, Roger Ebert liked the movie and gave it a positive review. Three stars outta four.
"The Fast and the Furious" is far from a perfect movie, but surprisingly enough, it's more than just a movie about drag racing in Los Angeles. The characters are interesting, and it's fun to watch them interact. Also, you learn quickly that not everything is what it seems. Furthermore, not everyone is how he or she may seem. No character is a one-dimensional stereotype. All the characters are complex, as are the relationships they're in. I thought that this movie was gonna be a simple airheaded movie about punks drag racing, but it's not. There's an actual story in there! Unfortunately, how the story is resolved is horrible. The ending was a complete cop-out, and it seems incomplete. When the movie was over, I sat there wondering, "well, what about this," and "what about that?" One of the things I like most about this movie is how I didn't know what was gonna happen next. The movie isn't nearly as predictable as it could be, and even though the ending coulda been predictable crap that's all tied up with a pretty bow, the alternative isn't a vast improvement.
I like the cast in this movie. Vin Diesel is someone I've liked in every movie I've seen him in, even if I didn't like the movie, like with "Boiler Room." In "Pitch Black," he IS the movie. Vin Diesel has the potential to be the next big action star, though I think he would also like to do films that are more substantive. He also writes and directs (so far, they've only been short films, though), so perhaps he'll be starring in his own movies soon. Paul Walker also stars in this movie. It's hard to see him as a badass because he has that California pretty boy pothead surfer dude look to him. But once you look past that, you see that he can really act. I first saw him in "Pleasantville," and he was very good there. I then saw him in "She's All That," and I hated his character, and since the character wasn't supposed to be very likable, I guess that means he did his job well. Michelle Rodriguez plays Vin Diesel's girlfriend in the movie. She's not Hollywood pretty, but she's got a certain kinda sexy that's very eye-catching. This is my first time seeing her in a movie, though she starred in the recent independent hit, "Girlfight." I never saw it, but it's been recommended to me, so it's on my long list of DVDs I need to rent. Jordana Brewster plays Vin Diesel's sister, and she's SO hot! I remember thinking the same thing when I saw her in "The Faculty" a couple of years ago. She was also in that TV mini-series, "The 60s," but I never saw that. Rap fans will like when Ja Rule is on the screen, but it isn't for very long. He's pretty funny in the movie, and though he doesn't have a lot to work with, he's pretty good. He seems like a cool guy when I see him in interviews, but I HATE that one rap song he sings, which I don't know the name of. All I know is that there's a part where he bellows "every thug need a lady." Ugh, that song is so irritating. It hurts my ears to listen to it.
What's happened to rap? It used to be my absolute favorite music. Back in the days of The Geto Boys, Public Enemy, Big Daddy Kane, N.W.A., Ice Cube, A Tribe Called Quest... that was an era of greatness. Now, it's all crap, and all of 'em are saying the same thing. I've got the phatest ride, I've got mo' bitches, I've got mo' money than Bill Gates, blah, blah, blah. Oh, and how many rap songs are there right now that have to do with asses? Of course, I'm making a blanket statement, and not all rap music is like that. There's some real talent out there. Dr. Dre (who's a former N.W.A. member anyway... old skool!!!!), Eminem, and several others are very, very talented, so I shouldn't say that ALL rap artists are guilty of this. I just wish that it got back to being as great as it used to be.
Sorry about that. Um, back to the review.
Interestingly enough, "The Fast and the Furious" is based on a magazine article by Ken Li. I don't know which magazine it is, but I think it's kinda cool that a whole movie is based on a magazine article. I'm pretty sure that it's LOOSELY based on it, though. The story is by Gary Scott Thompson, and he helped Andrew Marlowe write the horrible movie, "Hollow Man." I blame Marlowe for how bad that movie is, though. He got more credits for that movie than Gary Scott Thompson, so he was probably more involved in the writing. Thompson also wrote the Rutger Hauer sci-fi flick, "Split Second," which I never saw. The screenplay was by Thompson and Erik Bergquist (his debut) and David Ayer, who helped write "U-571." He also wrote the movie "Training Day," which will be in theaters soon. Though it's not out yet, I saw the trailer, and it looks great! As for the director, it's Rob Cohen, and lemmie tellya, he did a FANTASTIC directing job in this movie. His prior films include "The Skulls" (with Paul Walker... I never saw it), "Daylight" (which I actually liked), "Dragonheart" (never saw it), and "Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story" (never saw that either). Based on those movies, I never woulda imagined that Rob Cohen has the visual flair that he displays in "The Fast and the Furious." The car racing sequences are incredible, and he directed a movie that had scenes that literally kept me on the edge of my seat. These sequences were much more heart-pounding than anything in "Driven" or last year's "Gone in 60 Seconds," and I truly didn't expect that. I was pleasantly surprised by what Rob Cohen did with this movie visually.
"The Fast and the Furious" turned out to be a lot better than I expected it to be, so it's a real shame that the ending is as weak as it is. It's a great ride, though. A loud, fun, thrilling ride.
Scale of 1-10: 8