My Review of The Fast and the Furious (2001) · 10:28pm May 28th, 2023
Rating Scale:
12/10—a complete masterpiece; flawless and outstanding
11/10—Excellent, near-perfect film
10/10—the standard rating; awesome film with a couple of flaws
9/10—a wonderful film with several flaws
8/10–a great film with numerous flaws but not enough to ruin it
7/10—a fun and entertaining movie; not great but still enjoyable
6/10—a slightly above average film; it is something I might watch again
5/10—mediocre movie; not awful but not great either
4/10—a below average film; it could have been much better
3/10—a bad film; poorly written and poorly executed
2/10—a very bad movie; the few good things in the movie overshadowed by the bad things
1/10—a terrible movie; a total waste of time
0/10—a worthless piece of abomination; should have never been made
Greetings, folks. This is Mr. J back with another movie review for today. This afternoon, I will be reviewing “The Fast and the Furious” from 2001. I have never been a fan of this franchise…because I’ve never seen any of these films before. It was only recently I decided to check out this movie so I can see where it all started—how it became one of the longest-running franchises out there.
I do remember playing the F&F arcade games while growing up though, so they were the only things that actually introduced me to the franchise. That was it. So now that I have seen this movie, I have to admit that it was pretty entertaining to say the least. I don’t think it was particularly great, but it does have some solid action.
This is about an undercover LAPD officer named Brian O’Conner who must investigate a crime spree carried out by a group of dangerous hijackers who are believed to be led by Dominic Toretto. As Brian gets involved within the street-racing world, he finds out there is more to Dominic than meets the eye.
Honestly, the primary aspect this film does very well is the action-thrilling street racing. It was pretty entertaining to see our main characters race against each other in the midst of cities while avoiding police custody. On the other hand, however, there is really nothing interesting about these guys. I mean, why should I care for all these secondary characters who range from unlikable to shallow.
Brian and Dominic were somewhat the only decent characters in the whole movie, yet they still left so much to be desired. All I know is that Brian tried to keep his mission a secret from Dominic until it’s discovered he’s a cop. Oh, no, they have a conflict which doesn’t last for that long…I guess. Then we have more street racing coming up and then what? Just more racing.
The movie felt a little too fast-paced, and the plot felt very weak. There wasn’t much chemistry between our main characters; there was just so much casual conversation between everyone living in LA. Maybe it’s just me, but I don’t see why any of that was relevant for the plot. It just took me out of the experience somehow.
But I do admire the acting in this movie. Vin Diesel and the late Paul Walker pretty much stole the movie with their respective performances and dialogue. It wasn’t top-tier dialogue, but at least they didn’t go over-the-top with anything random. The other characters mean nothing to me, so I have nothing more to say for them.
The cinematography and the visual effects were pretty cool to see as well.
That’s all I have to say for this movie. Usually, a famous franchise would start off pretty strong until it gets better with a sequel and more to come. In this case, unfortunately, I would have to make an exception. It was entertaining for the most part, but it had some lackluster storytelling and character development…or lack thereof. I will give this a solid 7/10.
Peace!
Back when the Fast and Furios franchise started so simple. It went from car racing to becoming superheroes.