The MoFo Movie Club Discussion: Fast & Furious

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And here we are again folks. I know several of you didn't want to watch this flick and then have to write something down afterwords, but I hope some of you do anyway. Flicks like this can be fun when taken with the right amount of cough syrup, crack and L.S.D. Trust me. As usual this is a spoiler free zone so if you haven't seen the film then read no further.



Is this a terrible movie? Not really. Painfully average and probably about 7 years too late? Most definitely yes. I have to admit I'm a pretty big fan of the first one. I would even venture to say I'd be a huge fan of the flick if Paul Walker wasn't in the film. I tend to think that Walker may very well be one of the absolute worst actors going today. Maybe I just don't pay attention enough but it surprises me a bit that he doesn't get more honorable mention in all of the numerous threads around the forum detailing just how much certain actors suck and their *ahem* level of suck-i-tude.

So, some of you may already know the premise. The four "heavies" from the first installment have rejoined to take another turn at a quick buck. No, that's all wrong! These are serious actors! Ermm... Whatever.



For what its worth I enjoyed parts of the movie (mostly the ones sans Walker) and I always enjoy flicks with car chases and explosions. This movie had both. It was the bulk of the in between bits that are hard to stomach. Diesel was fine and I couldn't help but wonder if he ever thinks to himself about the way his career has gone over the years. If he were an 80's action star he'd have been a fine one but instead he's a man of today who's been trying for several years now to demonstrate his "depth of talent" and how he's not just a one trick pony. Trouble is, he is a one trick pony and honestly there really isn't anything wrong with that I just wish he'd realize it so he'd quit screwing around with roles that get in the way of him doing King Conan (I'm still holding out hope Vin). I'll get my wish, I can see the future.



I don't know, I guess Vin is a pretty big star but I think he'd be a huge star if he'd stuck with his bread and butter. Who knows how these guys think though, maybe he really doesn't care if he's huge. Seems unlikely but it could be.



Sadly my favorite actor of the four gets killed off before the movie barely even gets going. Maybe Michelle Rodriguez woke up in her trailer one morning and realized she was about to spend 6 months with Walker and ran screaming from the set. Dare to dream. It did mean a little more screen time for the lovely Jordana Brewster who's not only easy on the eyes but has a fun name to say! I'm still not sure if she isn't actually Punky Brewster all grown up, but now with a grown up name. That's probably just the LSD talkin'.

I give this flick the mediocre rating it deserves.


Any thoughts MoFo's ?
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I watched it too, and I'm going to rewatch it again right now since Brenda just went to a 99s meeting, but I will say that the opening scene in the Dominican is certainly fun and Vin Diesel is one hell of a driver (especially in reverse) to have missed that gas tanker from completely destroying his car! You do have to pay attention though, MoFos. If you don't read all the subtitles you could be completely lost just like I was. I don't have that big a problem with Walker that PW does, but hey, he had to start this thread and he had to say something, so it's alright with me if he wanted to waste half his post talking about the Poor Man's Rob Lowe strutting his stuff (such as it is). As usual in the F & F series (who am I kiddin? I've only watched the first and the fourth), there are plenty of women in short skirts and some of them like to kiss each other. Besides that, there are street races, modern music and songs which often make me feel sad for the younger generation, and Bad Guys who like to hook innocent kids onto to drugs as well fast cars, token lesbianism and über male bonding. One other complaint I had was that during the quiet scenes, things were just too quiet, but it's a flaw I've found with DVDs which differentiates them from theatre presentations (at least film ones) or VHS tape.

I'll check back in after I rewatch it, but my first impression is also
, and I give the first one
although I've only seen it once and that was on DVD.
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Ha, I've only seen the first one and this last one too. Birds of a feather maybe? I just can't bring myself to do the other two especially that second one. Ack! Walker and Tyrese Gibson? I don't think so.



Saw this last week and I was going to post about it this weekend but had an engagement party and was sick as a dog (just now getting normal-ish). Back soon with many scathing thoughts, I'm sure.



I have not seen it. This, and this year's The Final Destination, have the worst movie names in all of history, I think.



Not a fan of the title either, in my opinion this comes in third out of the four. Ill share some thoughts when I have time.
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I ain't gettin' in no fryer!
I saw this a while back, but it's still relatively fresh in my mind to not warrant a repeat view (thank goodness for that). That's not to say it's terrible, but it just wasn't needed. If they would have done this, as opposed to Tokyo Drift, it might not have been so bad. However, after the bad taste left from Tokyo Drift or even as far back as 2 Fast 2 Furious, the only way they could've got butts in the seats was to bring back the original cast.

Sure, the scenes involving car chases were well done and always make me want to take my SUV out and race it (), but it's the bits in between (you know, dialogue) that keeps the movie from being anything more than a vehicle (pun intended) for eye candy.

I give props to the director for the way it was tied in with Tokyo Drift, and when watched in the right order, it all makes sense.

If I remember correctly I gave it a
, I might've been generous and given it a
, but I've had time to think about it since then. Sure it's fun, but if you're looking for anything other than fast cars, you're in the wrong place.
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I remember back in the day when the first Fast & Furious film was released, a friend of mine bought it over on a burnt CD. We loved it. As a teenager what more could we ask for, cars, girls, action and a not too complicated but decent story. It became the car film. The popularity of tuner cars sky rocketed and eight years later its still going.
Every film thats successful at the box office gets a sequel and unless its directed by James Cameron, there usually garbage. The sequel was a no brainer and the third film was a little better then the second but not by much.

When I came past the trailer for number four, I was pretty excited to see the cast back together again, it looked as if they'd finally thrown something decent together. Sadly that wasn't the case, Fast & Furious was like an hour long dangerous driving ad, if all you do is race cars and rob truckies, your girlfriends going to die and your going to prison. Pretty dark for a fun film, I know its been years and they wanted to add some "real life" but that was a bit much. The story really isn't as good as everyone been saying it is, yeah it is better then the last two but that doesnt say much.

It was good to see the cast back together, but wait they were never back together, three of them were, but that wasn't that poster promised. I wanted all four. They were alright but the real stars of these films have four wheels. I can't say I was that impressed by them, they weren't as iconic as the previous bunch and like most of the movie it was a case of seen it before.

All of the action was so over the top that it was clearly bullsh*t, I mean the opening tanker chase.. it had some merit but then they chose to go with the 'rolling truck'... Oh and that mine race/chase.. underground racing.. literally.. too much . I like explosions and fast cars but that was far too corney.

It just wasn't that good, theres not much more too it then that. Another money grabber as far as I'm concerned.



This is seriously...THE movie of the year!



Spoilers follow. I'd use tags but a general proclamation is better here, and I assume anyone checking this thread out knows as much anyway...



Okay: I know this movie isn't aspiring to do much. I get that. Really, I do. I'm not a car guy, but I can appreciate that a car guy might enjoy seeing these absurd machines fly around the streets and make loud noises that would be insanely annoying if they happened within a mile of your ears in reality. That makes sense to me.

What doesn't make sense to me is why the goofy jumps and races cannot either a) embrace their insanity fully, or b) actually take the time to ensure that basic plot developments actually make sense. Instead it actually tries to be suspenseful/meaningful.

No better example of this than the whole "we're killing off Michelle Rodriguez and forcing Vin Diesel to try to act" stuff. There are a billion things wrong here. For one, it doesn't fit with the high-flying, fun-loving atmosphere the film wants to create. For another, if they're going to kill her character off, why do they do it completely off-screen? They have this big, dangerous opening sequence where she nearly dies, then Diesel runs off and gets a phone call about her dying. If you're going for impact, and you're trying to grab people right out of the gate, then she might as well die in the opening.

I understand that this forces them to abandon the little mini-subplot where he reconstructs the crash and leaves her for her own safety and all that, but that wasn't terribly compelling stuff to begin with, so I think it's easily a net positive. C'mon, grab us by the lapels, Cliffhanger-style. The biggest problem your average predictable action flick has is that we can usually assume all the important characters will live. When you're actually willing to off one of them, you've gotta make the most of it.



And geez, how can Diesel/Dom/That Bald Guy be pursued relentlessly by the authorities, yet show up at his old house to visit his sister, and then just hang out and fix up his car with music blaring? Dude's not exactly laying low. He's in literally the first place they'd look, doing exactly the sort of thing they expect him to be doing.

His sister even tells him this, and his brilliant retort is "don't worry about it." Oh, okay. I guess everything's cool, then, because he told her not to worry about it. We, the audience, can take this as addressing us, as well. Vin Diesel just told me not to worry about something, and I trust him implicitly, so I will worry no longer. I'm sure there's a perfectly good reason that the Feds aren't looking for him in the only house in the area that has a personal significance for him and contains a member of his immediate family. Say no more, Vin! You aren't the droid the Feds are looking for, though you could probably play one.

To be fair, though, the Feds aren't that sharp, either. Who gives a unit 72 hours to come up with something? They've been doing this for, what, months? Years? And now they've got 72 hours? Doesn't that encourage really reckless behavior? Methinks they'd get a bit more notice, or else just shut the thing down right away.

And, if I can borrow a technical point from a podcast I was listening to awhile back, the whole bit where Vin smells the asphalt, concludes that it contains nitro-somethingorother-icide, and then says "there's only one guy in L.A. who sells nitro-somethingorother-icide" is goofiness personified. There's no way this is true; it's not friggin' plutonium. And the guy's been out of the country for years; how's he know some up-and-coming mafioso hasn't ventured in the nitro business? My nose is bleeding just thinking about this.

But wait, I have more whining! The big bad mob guy is holding a race to determine who his new drug mules will be? An open race that basically anyone with a sweet ride can join? I don't think so. Drug-running is about discretion and loyalty, not who can jump their vette off of a bridge at 140 MPH without dying. I don't care if you can juggle while on a BMX bike, your skills will never be more important to a drug dealer than simple trustworthiness.

Speaking of this mob guy, I assume everybody guessed his identity almost right away? It was utterly telegraphed. It was obvious pretty much immediately, but it was painfully obvious after this exchange (rough, because it's from memory and I refuse on principle to go back and check it):

Guy Who's Pretending To Be Underling But Is Really Mob Boss: Every one of us is willing to die for him [the boss].
Bald Vinny: Even you?
GWPTBUBIRMB: Especially me.
Me: Well, that guy's the mob boss, then.
Me, In My Head: (but nobody inside the movie will figure this out for another 50 minutes.)

I considered, briefly, the possibility that the Russian girl (I dunno, Natasha? Again, out of principle I refuse to go and check) was actually the mob boss, but after the exchange above it was settled.



And what's with the little wordplay he and Natasha had going? She says something like "I see you admiring that car," and he's all "I appreciate a good body." But if she'd said something more generic like "Admiring something?," then his response would be far more double entendre-y. By specifically using the word "car," she dilutes the cleverness of his response. A nitpick, maybe, but this movie needs every bit of cleverness it can get.

The movie's full of Bald Vinny saying things that sound cool, but are dumb the more you think about them. For example:

Mia: Let this go. Before it's too late.
Vin: It's already too late.

No sir, it is not too late. At this point in the film you have not infiltrated the gang or in any way committed yourself to following through on your planned course of action. Given that you've been eluding people for, like, a decade, and are now avoiding the FBI despite sitting in plain sight, I find it difficult to believe that you are somehow forced to carry on with your plans. Thus, I take issue with your assertion that it is too late to turn back from your present course.

Of course, what he was probably sorta trying to say was that he was just really mad and didn't want to let things go, but that's a different thing entirely. And it's not something that's been said 2.6 septillion times in other movies, so uttering it isn't an option.

And how about Bald Vinny's timing with the whole "blowing up my own car" deal? It explodes just as he's making a pithy (but pretty lame) remark to some guy? Several minutes pass between the time he starts the nitro-stuff and the cigarette lighter, yet he knows the exact split-second it's going to go off? I'll suspend a little disbelief when he's flipping cars and landing rightside up and other such craziness, but can't he just say something smarmy and then deck the guy? Since when did he become some kind of James Bond dude? I'm pretty sure he already has a crappy franchise devoted to that kind of character.

I give the moving, talking pictures that form this film a
, with the lone popcorn box only for one or two kinda-cool stunts.

The lone saving grace? I laughed at this film...a lot. If you told me it was written to be ironic, its rating jumps to at least
.

And yes, I know this whole post is absurdly smarmy. But Fast & Furious deserves all the smarm I can muster.



Well, he could have had a franchise devoted to an American James Bond type of thing but he opted instead to do some "serious" acting. Remember that? Now if he does another XXX movie it will look just as silly as this thing did. In my ever so humble opinion.



In the Beginning...
If I didn't know any better, I'd say the The Fast and the Furious franchise was made by all the jocks from my 2001 high school class who thought it would be "cool" to make a movie after tripping on several million dollars in cash.

In other words, it doesn't look like anyone who wrote, directed, shot, starred in, or carried equipment for knows anything about film.



I already saw it a while back, I like the cars but the rest of the movie seems a bit like 'been there done that'... but watching Paul Walker and Vin Diesel is always great!



Well, he could have had a franchise devoted to an American James Bond type of thing but he opted instead to do some "serious" acting. Remember that? Now if he does another XXX movie it will look just as silly as this thing did. In my ever so humble opinion.
Oh, I remember. And I'm sure we'll be deluged with that when his Hannibal movie comes out. He'll have to make another token stab at it. I think The Fast and The Furious is a tacit admission that he hasn't been able to broaden his horizons at all since the first one, really.

I know a few people liked Knockaround Guys, and I won't put down anyone here who doesn't agree that his "500 fights" mini-speech was insanely goofy, but yeah...dude's not amounted to a whole lot more than he was a decade ago. Maybe it's just as well. Then again, at least more dramatic fare would allow him to start playing characters roughly his own age. He's, like, I dunno, 40 or something.



I actually watched this nugget of crap a few months back and posted while viewing. Theres no way possible Ill watch it again, but here are the old posts if any are interested though theyre very disjointed. WARNING FOR THE SPOILERS

First 15 min - I actually never saw 2, and didnt know there was even a 3. Oh yeah you can tell theres gonna be a lotta posing going in this. Looks like Vin and crew are trying to hijack some blind trucker unable to see the circus driving up on him. Daaaamn so they jack 2 cargos out of 4 and Senore Oblivio is unphased hes pulling half the weight. If Mad Max was driving that rig hed be serving Vin a cup of shut the hell up - oh! He bailed with his iguana out of the truck! This reads like Cheech & Chong. Remember when a bouncing tanker of gas is coming towards you its just best to floor it and charge.

Oh FFS! Is it possible there could be a movie where the guy doesnt tell his lover sidekick "Oh its too dangerous for you baby!"?! Just once Id like him to say "Damn woman! Youre getting fat and I need someone younger that could keep up." Michelle Rodriguez would slug him, theyd kiss passionately, and its better than the typical Barnaby Jones old assed dialogue routine scene. Oh he leaves her of course. Destined to live isolated and tortured due to his loneliness but secure in his mind cause shes safe.

30 min - So he leaves her so she wont get hurt, and then shes killed. Like how they did the flashback scene. Ive always felt they should use computer animation sparingly in hollywood.

Hey FBI rather than go thru hundreds of David Parks just have the guy that gave you the name pick which one he is! Btw Jordana Brewster is HAWT! OI!

Ha! They found the real David Parks because unlike the others Parks drives a souped up car. LOL! The cops n Vin found out thru Parks theres a "big race" ?!?!? Thatd just be perfect for this movie wouldnt it?! So you know what time it is?! Its soup up your car time folks! For a movie like this it equates to the Rocky training scene jog music and all. My Chevy Cavalier wouldnt do well in this movie, and that reminds me I need to get my oil changed.

52 min - LOL! Halfway thru the race the cop gets lost! Hes yelling at his souped up GPS ok thats funny. LMFAO! The cop just apologized to his car! Btw I think Vin Diesel is singlehandedly trying to bring back the Izod shirt.

Michelle Rodriguez better not be dead in this flick cause drinking problem or not shes more of a draw to me than cop boy. Damn. Vin just walks away from some skinny french chick in a see thru shirt with prominent radio dials. LOL! We all would be branded as queers for doing that, but Vin we just know he's cooler, and stronger. Be like Vin.

Siiigh sadly I gtg to work. Why cant I be a mega racer Han Solo like girl magnet wanted by the law?!

1 hr - If a Trans-Am pulled up and Burt Reynolds got out Id hit the floor right now hysterics! Well he aint. This movie should be a drinking game - whenever any actor stops, stares, then poses for a sec you take a swig/shot. Come with a stomach pump.

Ok so trying to hijack a semi truck in a couple of pickup trucks going in reverse is nothing compared to this new act of genious. Racing at top speeds thru a mine shaft to get across the border. Theres less room for error than what Jada Pinkett had in Matrix 3. Now what? Oh Vin and the cop broke off from the crooks taking $60 million dollars. The cop gets orders to arrest him, but instead the federal agent takes him to his girlfriends house for dinner.

1 hr 15 min - It took 4 movies for me to actually get it, but Vin is this federal agents Bodie. Point Break with cars, and I shockingly have more respect for Katheryn Bigelow. I know Im cracking wise on this flick, but Paul Walker reminds me of Matthew Fox from LOST. Crap actor. Maybe even worse than.

The guy playing the fake big boss Braga reminds me of Dos Equis The Most Interesting Man in the World from the mexican beer commercial. Oh if only he was. Ugh Vins doing alot of Caruso style posing which is camp acting overload. OI! Is it possible that a car engine in this flick doesnt shine like a x-mas ornament?! Dont these people go muddin'?!

Final - Hm?! The main bad guy Braga's very religous. Might be good for a recurring villain with depth, but my moneys on him dying at the end in a car crash. Who wants to bet me?! LOL! Oh ffs. If this movie couldnt have thrown the book of reality further now theyre gonna take Brag back to the states. Oh thats right what was I thinking there are 2 guys in 2 fast cars against a mega heroin cartel.

ROFLMFAO! Vin and fedboy are getting shot at by Bragas minions. So Vin elbows breaks his driver side window rather than rolling it down to shoot his shotgun! With one shell two cars blow up I aint kidding. He is the lovechild of Bo Duke and Rambo. Back to the mineshaft which I guess was a proven winner to escape border patrol. The baddy that killed Michelle Rodriguez character just took out fedboy in a car duel. Never thought Id see a stormtrooper that actually hit. Realism aside finally this mineshaft duel endchase is pretty cool. Welp that guys dead as hell. Ole Vin got his revenge.

Vin helps the good guys bring Braga back to the states, and is rewarded with the maximum sentence of 25 to life. Maybe they wanted a prison section for the videogame? Oh looks like fedboys gone loco and joined with Vins gang n sis too bust Vin free from the prison transit bus. No dont end! I'm so excited I could pee! Dry humor typed is tough to master.



Fast & Furious, probably the worst film I watched in the cinema in 2009. Is only beaten by Fighting to the award of just plain boring and cruddy new movie of 2009.

I thought the whole character building was pointless, trying to over-act and not having any of the intensity that Tokyo Drift managed to give us... The first film was enjoyable but yeah okay it wasn't great, however you can accept that because it was kind of the first of it's kind and for me it showed how cool car racing could be. However, I find it hard to believe that anyone involved with Fast & Furious felt the audience needed to know more about the characters.

We learnt basically everything we could in the first film and by the second film, well what more did we know about Brian? The amount of times he has to say "bro" was about it... Tokyo Drift saved the franchise tbh, if that had bombed then it would have ended and I truly wanted them to carry on that story at least.



Not being a fan of car movies, I actually enjoyed this one as compared to the 3 before it.
Though it might be because I'm currently in a relationship with a guy who is heavy into the Mustang scene.
While the dialog is laughable, at least the storyline sorta makes sense (?). I did enjoy the silly specials effects and the ridiculous racing sequences (Yelling at the GPS? Who hasn't done that?). It does remind me a bit of the first one which I would ranks the second strongest in the series followed by the 3rd one.
Don't get started on the 2nd. Being from Miami I'm still trying to figure out what roads they used to get to little Haiti, because it clearly looks like they're headed either to the beaches or down to the Everglades, makes no sense.
At least with #4 you can't really tell where they're going so is all almost believable.

But for a good laugh, make sure to see the film with very knowledgeable car guys, they will spot everything that is wrong with the technical aspect of the movie and its hilarious.



im with you Agent it was an enjoyable movieand i really liked it



Its sounds good to me.....
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I actually liked this movie much better than I thought I would. I would have to rate it behind the original but ahead of the other two sequels.