FAMILY. The main theme of the Fast and Furious franchise, which now boasts eleven films (the last one being in production), numerous other television shows, video games, toys, etc., is family. In 2001’s The Fast and the Furious, babyfaced versions of our favorite car-driving superhero family learn that “family” is more than the people who share your blood, it’s the people who share your life. Now that this family is over twenty-one, let’s pour a drink for ourselves and revisit the film that conceived this family.
Paul Walker portrays Brian O’Conner, an undercover police officer on assignment. The assignment? Find out who’s hijacking a bunch of semi-trucks and stealing their cargo. The trucks are being attacked on the road by a group of people skillfully driving Honda Civics, so Brian looks to Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) first. Toretto rules the illegal street racing circuit by being the best driver and also by throwing his deep voice and smoldering stares around to keep everyone else in check. Brian has to work hard to be inducted as a family member to Toretto’s group by doing such difficult tasks as showing up at Toretto’s bar every day where his very attractive sister, Mia (Jordana Brewster), works and ordering a tuna salad sandwich with no crusts. Tuna salad every day? The horror! While film audiences now generally look fondly back at Walker’s blue-eyed surfer-boy charisma, critics of the time weren’t as enamored with him, with Roger Ebert writing in his review that Walker looks “a little like white bread, no crusts himself.” Not very family, Rog!
Anyway, does anyone else notice that Brian is an incredibly inept undercover cop? Yes, he manages to gain Toretto’s trust and infiltrate the group, fine. But then he doesn’t solve shit. In fact, he falls in love with Mia (pretty sure that’s against the undercover cop rules), becomes besties with Toretto (also against the rules), and refuses to believe that it is in fact their group who is doing the hijackings. All the while Brian’s superiors are yelling at him that all evidence points to Toretto. Brian races back to Toretto like a teenager running from their parents to the forbidden lover with fingers in ears singing “lalalalalala, I can’t hear you because I love them. You oldies don’t know nothin.” Well, actually, the boss cops are right in that Toretto’s crew are the ones hijacking the trucks. He then breaks the biggest undercover cop rule by helping Toretto’s crew do the crime he was trying to stop. On the plus side, the crime was trying to steal combination VCR/dvd players, so that truck is out like, what, thirty bucks?
The Fast & The Furious isn’t much for talking. Character scenes tend to be lean and very on-the-nose, getting right to the point of the plot. Watching this cast now, so young and hopeful, it’s clear why the films kept bringing them back as these characters. Walker, Diesel, Rodriguez, and Brewster all shine as the FF crew, each bringing a particular spark to the characters that elevate them beyond “people in a car movie.”
And when these youngsters aren’t bonding in the manliest of manly ways over high powered cars, man speak, and beer, they’re driving cars in the manliest of manly ways- incredibly recklessly. Wikipedia reports 78 cars were wrecked on and off screen during the filming of The Fast and the Furious! Director Rob Cohen knew what he was doing, though, because even though those cars got wrecked the action scenes are superb. The finale is a particular high point, with Dom’s crew battling it out against an incredibly determined truck driver to score those sweet sweet VCR/DVD players. They’re speeding down the highway, hanging off trucks and cars alike, and wrecking their Honda Civics all in the name of the score. After watching The Fast and the Furious, I can’t help but ask the question that’s on all of our minds: Should I buy a Honda Civic?
The Fast and the Furious definitely doesn’t win any awards for female representation. All women are eye candy who just want to have sex with the amazing, strong men in the movie. While Michelle Rodriguez is supposed to be the “tough, kickass” female character she hardly gets to contribute to the film as a whole. To be fair (I guess), she gets to punch one guy and is shown to have great car driving skills- better than not having any women driving cars. Otherwise she is Dom’s girlfriend. Same with Mia, she is there to be Dom’s sister/Brian’s girlfriend. Fine, I can overlook it this time, as this film is very open as to what it’s about: manly men driving super fast cars to rev up their manly egos. Plus, while the lady representation isn’t terrific by today’s standards, for something from the ‘00s it could be a lot worse.
If you’d have told me twenty-two years ago that this car-racing film would become one of the biggest blockbuster franchises in the world I’d have thrown french fries in your face and called you crazy ketchup. Point Break But With Cars is a fun movie that doesn’t dive deep, delivers great action and memorable performances, and doesn’t ask much of its audience- the formula for the perfect blockbuster.
Time Until Action Starts: 1:30 Action Rating: 3.5 Souped up Honda Civics, out of 5
This is the Action Flick Chick, and you’ve just been kicked in the ass!
