In a sentenceVin Diesel treats a street race with the gravity usually reserved for a state funeral
In Southern California, undercover police officer Brian O’Conner (Paul Walker) investigates lorry hijackings linked to the street-racing scene. He wants the confidence of Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel), whose circle includes Letty Ortiz (Michelle Rodriguez) and Mia Toretto (Jordana Brewster). Brian puts his car on the line in a street race against Dominic, hoping to earn a place among the drivers. The police want evidence, while the racers expect loyalty. As Brian grows closer to Dominic and takes an interest in Mia, keeping those demands separate becomes part of the job.
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Rob Cohen’s car-racing thriller is noisy, thinly plotted and good fun when it lets the driving do the work. Vin Diesel gives it authority, and the practical stunts compensate for a crime story that needs tidying.
The Fast and the Furious is good, undemanding entertainment, provided the cars are part of the attraction. Rob Cohen understands the appeal of watching people who take driving seriously, even when the crime story gives us little reason to do the same. The customised vehicles invite close inspection, and the film gives them plenty. At 106 minutes, it has enough sense not to turn this interest into a lengthy obligation.
Vin Diesel supplies the human reason to stay. His Dominic Toretto has an authority that makes the surrounding fascination with him plausible, and Diesel takes the character seriously without asking us to mistake him for a complicated man. Paul Walker, as Brian O’Conner, is a lighter presence, useful in a film that could otherwise become oppressive with male self-importance. Their scenes give the racing some personal weight, even when the writing leaves the relationships looking simpler than they should.
Ericson Core’s cinematography is particularly effective in the Southern California locations, which give this car-centred world somewhere recognisable to exist. The attention to bodies and customised bodywork explains the attraction more efficiently than the dialogue. Waldemar Kalinowski’s production design encourages the same close inspection, although it offers less to anyone who regards a car as transport. The film makes its enthusiasm easy to understand without requiring us to share every last bit of it.
The driving is the strongest reason to watch. We were gripped by the lorry-heist action, because the difference in scale between a lorry and a car makes the danger immediately comprehensible. The practical stunt work gives that danger weight, and the digital assistance usually avoids drawing attention away from it. Cohen is good at making speed feel risky; during these stretches, getting through the next few seconds matters more than sorting out the plot.
Editors Dallas Puett and Peter Honess keep the action moving, but the crime story is harder to follow than it needs to be. The screenplay by Gary Scott Thompson, Erik Bergquist and David Ayer struggles to make its complications interesting enough to justify the effort of untangling them. Michelle Rodriguez as Letty Ortiz and Jordana Brewster as Mia Toretto receive less attention than the male drivers and their vehicles. Both make us wish the film would spend more time with them.
BT’s music is less memorable than the engines, which gradually become wearing through sheer persistence. There are passages when the sound seems determined to provide excitement that the stunts have already supplied. We enjoyed Cohen’s willingness to make a straightforward racing thriller, but there are stretches when turning down the volume would improve it. The noise makes the quieter appeal of Diesel’s presence easier to appreciate.
As a hot-rod film, it delivers the essential pleasure of people doing difficult things at speed. Its character work is broad, but Diesel gives it enough conviction to survive a script that often needs his help. The action earns the attention that the criminal complications occasionally squander. Choose it for the driving, and allow the police work a little less scrutiny.
Most critics find The Fast and the Furious entertaining despite its script, with praise concentrated on the car chases, practical stunts and customised cars. The favourable reviews value its energy and unpretentious approach to action, accepting the silliness as part of the appeal. Several find that the driving sequences supply enough excitement to compensate for weaknesses elsewhere. Radio Times also singles out Vin Diesel’s screen presence.
The divide is wide, with enthusiastic approval at one end and outright rejection at the other. Even supportive reviews acknowledge muddled writing, but the strongest objections concern the spectacle itself rather than just the plot. The Guardian finds the racing deafening and self-congratulatory, with relentless engine noise a particular irritation. Eye for Film dismisses the film as a shallow commercial, objecting to its incoherent plotting and fixation on cars and male bodies. What most critics enjoy, these dissenters find grating or empty.
The critic finds the film deliriously entertaining despite its deliberately silly tone. The high-speed car chases and seamless mix of stunts and CGI stand out for praise.
Read the full review →Jones praises the film as a high-energy action thriller that successfully launched a franchise. He singles out its customised cars, turbo-charged stunts and Vin Diesel’s screen presence.
Read the full review →The critic finds the film entertaining despite its less-than-smart script. The near-unbelievable practical stunts are singled out for praise.
Read the full review →Honeycutt finds the film an energetic, character-driven hit, despite a messy script and an implausible ending. He especially praises the heart-stopping stunts and Southern California location work.
Read the full review →The review presents the film as enjoyable, unpretentious drive-in entertainment. It praises the way the teen hot-rod flick recalls the thrills of Roger Corman’s B-movies.
Read the full review →The accessible page does not expose the critic's verdict. It provides no praise or complaint to summarize.
Read the full review →Part of · 1 of 3
The Driver · not reviewed yetA spare crime thriller that gives its getaway driving proper attention.
Initial D · not reviewed yetMountain-road racing and young drivers who take each corner personally.
Taxi · not reviewed yetFrench car chases with more comic fuss around the police work.
Point BreakAnother crime thriller where belonging becomes more tempting than doing the job.
Le Mans · not reviewed yetFor anyone more interested in racing machinery than explanations of the plot.
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