These events take place five years after the first film, with Dominic (Vin Diesel) separated from everyone he cares about and still on the run from the cops. He is called back to his hometown because of a tragedy involving someone he’s close to. When he returns, Dominic learns that the incident was not an accident. He investigates the matter in his own way, breaking some heads and racing for an opportunity to get close to the crime lord he believes responsible, Arturo Braga. Brian (Paul Walker) has returned to life in law enforcement. He works for the FBI and is actively investigating Braga. Eventually, Brian’s path crosses with Dominic‘s, creating some familiar and enjoyable tension. Both Michelle Rodriguez and Jordana Brewster return as Letty, Dominic’s girl, and Mia, his sister, respectively, in supporting roles.
The opening scene is a flashback sequence for the fans, giving us a dangerous highway heist (as seen from the trailers) and a tie-in with “Tokyo Drift.” Once the current story begins, Lin tries to “wow” the audience with a shaky cam chase between Brian and an informant. Lin should not debase himself with this style of camera work, which is just as likely to make the audience sick as it is to create a gritty realism. Luckily, Lin does not return to this cinema style instead gracefully capturing the car chases from multiple, relatively stationary angles. His use of a GPS device to create an overview of a street race through the city is well constructed and the GPS humor is clever. He could not recreate the stylishness of “Tokyo Drift” but Lin does overall justice to the racing scenes in “Fast and Furious.”
Lin also tries to create additional depth to the story, allowing his big name actors to perform. Diesel’s tough guy softens a bit in his scenes with Rodriguez, showing a real attachment to that relationship. Lin keeps returning to the importance of this relationship in Dom’s life, emphasizing how its his motivating force in the story. Walker tried too hard to make his character straight-laced when reintroduced in the beginning of the film, appearing instead to be rather colorless and bland. When Brian starts to skirt the line between cop and vigilante again, he becomes more compelling to watch. With Brewster returning to the series, Walker and her effectively show the tension of former flames meeting again. Sadly, no real heat develops onscreen between these stars as it did last time.
Playing with society’s perceptions of morality is what the “Fast and Furious” series does best. Sometimes doing what’s right involves racing across the desert to bring a villain to justice and sometimes its evading the authorities and watching out for your own. While not reaching the heights attained in the original film or “Tokyo Drift,” it still gives audiences the rush of illegal racing, the danger of underground street culture, and the satisfaction of wild west justice. “Fast and Furious” gets the original ingredients more right than wrong, continuing to give audiences exactly what they want while baffling many critics.
Rated PG-13 for for intense sequences of violence and action, some sexual content, language and drug references.
