Before I start the review, I must ask why they went with the title of Fast & Furious instead of just calling it Fast & Furious 4. I'm fully aware it is a prequel to the third movie, but it's still a sequel to the first and second movie. It also has story lines that fall with the first and second movie. I can only imagine them using that title if they ever did a reboot, but nope. This is the case.
Anyways, the plot is pretty much the same as the first two movies. Brian O'Connor (Paul Walker) is back again undercover, only this time he's working for the FBI. The FBI is still trying to take down Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel), but has had no luck ever since Dom's and Brian's last encounter from the first movie. When one of Dom's close partner's suddenly dies, Brian is back on the case and decides to track down Dom. This time however, Brian isn't going to Dom to convict him, but instead to ask him for help to take down an even bigger threat in the illegal street racing world, where in exchange, Dom would get full immunity and zero conviction.
It's great to see Paul Walker and Vin Diesel working together again. It's just too bad however that the plot just doesn't work here in this movie as it would've in the second Fast & Furious movie had Vin Diesel played Tyrese's part. It also feels inconsistent in the time spectrum, because unless the third Fast & Furious movie is set in the future, that would mean this movie as well as the next two movies all take place within just one year? How is that?
When Brian finally reunites with Dom's sister Mia, she says "it's been four years, Brian". The first movie came out in 2001, which means the fourth movie takes place in 2005. The third movie came out in 2006. If I'm correct on this estimation, this movie starts off the craziest year ever for the lives of Dominic Toretto and Brian O'Connor. Unfortunately, I didn't find the beginning of this crazy year for them to be as well written or as enjoyable as the first encounter with Dom and Brian. Some chemistry felt forced or lost, and the action scenes weren't that exciting to view except for the beginning. I only recommend watching this film as a build up to a much better two sequels.
**1/2
This one is pretty interesting because this movie takes place in time AFTER the events of the fourth, fifth AND sixth movie. It's also a little strange because this movie came out in 2006, which makes me question if it takes place in the "future" way beyond the year 2006 or not? This isn't into the actual review yet, but I just thought it'd be interesting to point out.
We don't have Paul Walker in the movie at all this time. Instead we follow a character, Sean Boswell (Lucas Black), who's the redneck type who loves cars and street racing but is always getting into trouble as you'll see in the opening scenes. This gives him no choice but to move away from his mom and live out with his dad in Tokyo, Japan. He of course doesn't fit in and immediately gets bullied on his first day because he doesn't know how to drift in a car during a street race. Umm... okay then. He then finds a couple friends to help him learn how to drift so he can take down the bully in upcoming street races. His first friend, Twinkie, is played by rapper turned actor Lil Bow Wow, who never explains how he arrived in Tokyo or how long he's lived there and is just there to encourage him to succeed (literally nothing else). He pretty much plays himself in the movie. His second friend, Han (Sung Kang), is the one that teaches young Sean how to drift and provides him with numerous cars to practice with. There's of course this girl named Neela, who Sean is attracted to, but can't date her because she's going out with the main bully, D.K. It's up to Sean to use his mad drifting skills to win her heart and the race as well.
Is it just me or is this The Karate Kid mixed with street racing (The CARate Kid?). It surprisingly however, intrigued me to the very end. I will say that I am a sucker for karate kid related plots, but this one felt more genuine. They actually focus on Sean's character more than the street races themselves like the previous two movies. This one was surprisingly more plot driven because it felt like there was more for Sean's character to lose. It's weird, but I liked this movie overall.
This was the first movie written by Chris Morgan and directed by Justin Lin who have directed every Fast & Furious movie since this one. It's interesting how this one felt more dramatic, and yet the kind of series they turned it into later is completely opposite. I am also interested to know why they made this one before movies 4-6. Either way, I'm glad I enjoyed this movie a lot more than I thought I would.
***
There's really no reason to watch this one unless you want to know the origins of Tyrese Gibson's and Ludacris' characters since they don't appear in the series again until the fifth movie (which is when they started getting good). Just FYI.
Brian O'Connor (Paul Walker) is now undercover again, only this time he's taking down a Miami drug lord. Yes, he moved from L.A. to Miami. He's also not a cop anymore, but has to go undercover to take down the drug lord in order to clear his arrest records and avoid jail time. What was he arrested for? Why it's street racing of course! He of course can't accomplish that plot, alone, and needs a supporting character with him. Is it Vin Diesel?!... nope. Instead it's Tyrese Gibson! Cue the cricket sounds. It's pretty obvious that the movie wasn't going to succeed if they didn't have Vin Diesel apart of this one, because that's what made the first one so entertaining was the chemistry of these two.
Tyrese Gibson plays Roman Pierce, an old childhood friend that grew up with Brian and also has records he needs erased, which leads to him joining Brian on his crazy undercover adventure. That's really about it. Ludacris' character, Tej, does provide some entertainment to the mix as the guy who runs all the races that happen in the movie. I'm not going to get into who the drug lord is, or who the love interest is, because you never do see them in any sequels again, and they're pretty much a cardboard cut out of characters from other previous cop movies.
Even though the plot is terrible, the movie is still watchable. There's some fun races here and there, and at least director John Singleton knew not to waste the charisma that Paul Walker carried in the first movie. Tyrese and Ludacris do all right with their parts too, but they do A LOT better in the fifth and sixth movies. Again, there's no real reason to watch this movie unless you like more car races or to want to know the details and origins of Tyrese and Ludacris' characters. Thankfully the movies in this franchise get better from here.
**
Imagine if they took the plot to the movie Point Break and instead decided to mix it with street car racing. That's literally the result of this movie. Officer Brian O'Connor (Paul Walker) goes undercover and enters the street racing world to take down and convict the kingpin himself, Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel). The only catch is, he kind of falls in love with Dominic's sister, Mia (Jordana Brewster) as well as the street racing environment itself, and has to face the choices he has to make when it comes to doing his job, and being a true friend to the bros of street racing.
I can easily imagine a newcomer Hollywood exec was thrilled and greenlit the project immediately after hearing that shitty plotline.
Nevertheless, the movie does offer us plenty of great action scenes and surprising chemistry with each character to make the movie more enjoyable than it sounds on paper. The street racing is pretty realistic as well since the production back in 2001 required the effects to be more practical and less CGI. Most the characters are memorable as well, but it's really the bromance of our two lead characters of Dom and Brian that are the main focus to this soon-to-be major franchise.
This is probably the only movie in the franchise that takes itself more seriously than the rest do. It was just your average summer flick that got lucky at the box office back then before they turned it into what it is today (and I mean that in a good way). If you're still looking for a good racing movie with many memorable moments as well as characters to 65% give a shit about, then this one I can probably recommend.
***
