Fourth 'Fast & Furious' does not end fast enough
By Saurabh Muzumdar
April 3 marked the release of the fourth installment of "The Fast and the Furious" action series.
The series, known for its fast-paced car-oriented tales, is back with its "original parts" -- the cast from the first movie reprise their roles with ease. But it's all brawn -- explosions mingled with cars and a splash of tattooed muscle men coercing bikini-clad women.
No acting experience needed.
Dominic Toretto, played by Vin Diesel, picks up where he left off four years ago, hijacking an oil tanker in the Dominican Republic. He is now a wanted man and needs to keep on the move to evade capture. So, he decides to leave in the middle of the night, ditching his crew -- and more importantly his girlfriend, Letty, played by Michelle Rodriguez.
Letty, however, is murdered, and Dom is forced to return to the epicenter of his illegal activities and confront not only law enforcers, but Letty's murderers.
Enter Brian O'Connor, played by Paul Walker, the cop who tried infiltrating Dom's gang and not only succeeded in doing so, but also grabbed the attention of Dom's gorgeous sister, played by Jordana Brewster.
The guys who Diesel is after also happen to be the big drug cartel that the Los Angeles Police Department is after. So begins the vengeful mission, with some slick car chases, burning rubber and candy-colored cars -- the stuff we men love.
If you haven't picked up on it yet, there isn't much of a plot in this movie. The film wanders aimlessly, is superfluously ambiguous and has too many loose ends that go unexplored. But the movie does work as a temporary distraction from the monotony of life in general.
It also has some moments of unintentional comedy, which is perhaps a good thing considering the intended moments of comedy more or less fall flat.
The car chases definitely deliver and there are cars of all shapes, sizes and, perhaps most importantly, speeds.
While car fetishists might have cause for celebration, audience members should turn their minds off, buckle up and get taken on a ride that's dumb and loud, but fun nonetheless.
The acting mirrors the screenplay, and it's hard to take it seriously. Criticizing it would be way too easy and a tad unfair since it's the action and not the dialogue that is the feature of the film.
The dialogue handicaps the actors, making you feel bad for an already bad actor like Walker. The pretty boy waltzes through the motions hand-in-hand with the humongous Diesel.
Diesel didn't need the muscle, but he probably took to bench pressing cars in order to get into shape for this movie. Couple that freakish size with his husky voice and you can perhaps understand why he is still one of the biggest action movie stars. The movie also has some reasonably catchy music, extremely cool gadgets and scenes from around the world.
Though this film could have been about 20 minutes shorter, it does make for some adrenaline-pumping entertainment.
Grade: C
Contact Saurabh Muzumdar at smuzumdar@scu.edu.