David Farnor | On 01, Jun 2013

Director: Justin Lin
Cast: Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Michelle Rodriguez
Certificate: 12A
Watch Fast & Furious online in the UK: Netflix UK

It’s not the best swap in the world. Two definite articles for a fourth sequel. But swap them they did, bringing back the cast of the first The Fast and the Furious film to jump-start the franchise all over again. The tagline? “New Model. Original Parts.” Satisfied, everyone left the room at that point for bagels and frappuccinos, leaving someone else to come up with a script.

So here comes cop Brian O’Connor (Walker) – he’s fast – and bad-ass Dominic Toretto (Diesel) – he’s fast as well, or is he furious? – joining forces to bring down a mutual enemy (some drug dealer who killed Dom’s girl). Quite how they’ll do this is anyone’s guess. And anyone guessed right: by driving really, really fast. And really, really furious.

Reunited again, our lead couple are free to burn up the screen with their chemistry. They glare and grapple with each other in a manly male way. Grrrr. Men. (That sentiment, at least, appears to be what drives the leering camera shots that fill the screen with objectified women.)

Torn between straight-laced justice and the nitro-fuelled underbelly of street racing and crime, Brian is clearly a character with a lot of depth. “Maybe you’re not the good guy pretending to be the bad guy. Maybe you’re a bad guy pretending to be a good guy. Do you ever think about that?” asks Dom’s sis, with whom he has a relationship. Brian rubs his stubble, staring into the distance. “Every day.”

Plot aside, let’s just cut to the chase: that’s what the film doesn’t do often enough. The set pieces are decent, with car chases that easily outclass contemporaries such as Quantum of Solace. Stretching from deserts to cities to abandoned mine shafts, the tyre-screeching, road-scorching races are guaranteed to get your inner petrol-head going. Kinetic editing (fast!) and constant explosions (furious!) – who could ask for more? Well, anyone having to watch the rest of the movie for a start.

 

Fast & Furious is available on Netflix UK, as part of an £9.99 monthly subscription.

 

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