The Fast and the Furious Week: The Conclusion

Let’s talk for a minute about the Rocketeer. 

For those of you who don’t know, The Rocketeer was a Disney movie that came out in  1991 about a daring pilot who found a jetpack. It had action, it had Nazi-Punching, it had bankable movie stars (Including Timothy Dalton doing his best Errol Flynn impression) and it was set to build a new franchise. Literally, this was tailor made to go up until The Rocketeer 9: The Rocketeer Takes Las Vegas. 

It bombed. Horribly. People are discovering it now so I wouldn’t be surprised if we got a reboot in a few years. 

My point is, most movies don’t really have a chance to make one impression on an audience, much less 7. The Rocketeer, by all reasons should have made it. And I’m sure a lot of people, seeing it today, would wonder why it didn’t do better. A million think pieces have been written as to why, but the thing is, no one can really tell you “why.” The audiences weren’t ready for it. The actors, who were somewhat known at the time, weren’t known ENOUGH. But it just didn't have “it”. 

So it’s kind of amazing that a movie about street racers who do a little heisting on the side made it this far. Not only to movie number seven, but after re-inventing itself three times, shifting it’s cast around, adding characters, subtracting characters, and even managing to build an entire movie that has a tenuous connection to the others, no matter how much Han says, “let’s go to Tokyo.” Lesser movies didn’t make it this far. Greater movies didn’t make it this far. But the Fast and The Furious managed to. 

(Obviously spoilers from this point. If you’re worried about spoilers, go watch the Rocketeer.)

Furious Seven (dropping the Fast and…) picks up just a little bit before Fast and Furious 6 ends. Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham in his Jason Stathemiest role to date) is in the hospital room with his brother, Owen Shaw (Luke Evans, doing his best coma acting) and vows revenge on the people who did this to him: Dominic and his crew. Meanwhile, Dom is trying to get Letty to remember her past by taking her to Race Wars, allowing Iggy Azeala to have a cameo in the film. Brian is trying to adjust to life as a father (in a great minivan scene) and doesn’t yet know that Mia is pregnant again. 

Deckard wants information on who took out his brother, so he hacks into Luke Hobb’s computer, and a fight ensues, putting Luke in the Hospital, presumably so the Rock can go film one of the many other movies he has to go film. It’s at this point the movie picks up from the end credits scene in Fast and the Furious 6, with Deckard killing Han and sending a warning bomb to Dominic. 

Hobbs, from his hospital bed, clues Dominic into what’s going on, Deckard and Dom have an epic showdown until it’s interrupted by Kurt Russell playing a super-secret spy type guy he just calls “Mr. Nobody.” He’ll help him get the jump on Deckard if they can help him boost some kind of super secret surveillance program because everyone else in the CIA is busy or something. Naturally the movie, from this point on, features cars jumping out of a plane, a busy busy heist, Dominic and Brian jumping a million dollar car in between three buildings, a fight in L.A., a collapsing parking structure, the Rock flexing out of an arm cast, and enough property damage for a Marvel Movie. 

Really? No one calls the army in at this point? Someone was firing missiles at cars, people. 

I’m of two minds when taking a closer look at this movie. On the one hand… I really think they lied to us about how much of the movie Paul Walker made before he died. The Fast and the Furious movies aren’t really about cars or fancy heists, but family. This message is pushed more than just about anything. Letty can’t stand being on Owen Shaw’s crew in Fast and the Furious 6 because he doesn’t run it like a family Fast Five is about Dominic wanting to provide a good life for his family, which includes Brian. Fast and Furious (the fourth one) starts out by showing us how weak they are when they are apart, not a member of a family. Even Han dies as a result of being out on his own, having rejected being part of the family, even has he builds his own in Tokyo Drift. It is that sense of family that first brings them together in the first movie.

So Paul Walker’s absence is felt hard in this movie. 

At the core of this family is the Brian/Dominic relationship. It’s strong, and it’s something you root for. I can throw all the bromance jokes I’d like, but that’s the core of these movies. It’s felt in 2 Fast 2 Furious when Brian is working with Rome. Sure, they have great chemistry, but they don’t have the chemistry between Paul Walker and Vin Diesel. It’s really lacking in Tokyo Drift. I realize that they had to shoot a lot of the movie around Paul Walker’s death, but when Mr. Nobody is talking to just Dom, or they send Brian off into the background… that’s felt. It takes away from what separated these movies out from being generic action pieces. 

However, the way they dealt with Paul Walker’s Death is important. The last five minutes of this movie are some of the most emotional minutes in any film, where you get the idea that Dominic isn’t saying goodbye to Brian so much as the cast is saying goodbye to Paul Walker. He is given a happen ending to live with his wife and kid, away from the lifestyle of street racers turned international thieves turned… spies now, I guess. But it’s a powerful moment, and one that is not glossed over. I’m glad they gave him a happy ending, even with the heavy handed symbolism of having the two characters drive in different directions. I’d like to think they’d end it this way, even if they weren’t forced to.

As for the rest of the film… it delivers, that’s for sure. The first few moments clue us into the fact that we are going to be watching the consequences of the last movie, where Deckard Shaw is busy monologuing to his comatose brother about “the future.” As the camera slowly pulls away, you can see the damage has already been done, and he has clearly fought his way into this location, and spectacularly so. And there are some excellent action sequences, such as a car diving through three different buildings in Abu Dhabi. 

Once again the franchise manages to reinvent itself, transforming into a revenge piece. Think of this more of the Titus Andronicus of the Fast and the Furious Franchise: bloody revenge without much need for apologies. There’s even a little epilogue where the Rock and Jason Statham pretty much promise they’ll be coming after each other again. And once again, even with the heavy weight over it, it’s just a fun movie. Not the best the franchise has to offer. But boo one can accuse it of not being a lot of fun.

So, thus ends my look at all 7 of these movies. I’m not sure what I’ve learned by doing so. Maybe it’s the fact that they did have to reinvent themselves for each individual movie is the reason they managed to survive for so long. The weakest, the second, didn’t, and it clearly shows. Maybe they were around because the deliver on what they’ve promised so many times. Mostly, it’s just fun. 

As for the future, it will definitely be Paul Walkerless, and that is sad as he is one of the faces of the franchise, and an all around good guy.  Seriously no one had anything bad to say about him. The fact that he was in six of these movies should tell you all you need to know. He wasn't a big star. He was just a guy that people liked, and wanted to keep working with. That's important. He will be missed.

      I’m a little disappointed they didn’t do more with Lucas’ Black’s character, originally brough in to be a new Paul Walker for the franchise, but he pops up here for a minute to remind everyone that Han trained him at one point. No offense to Mr. Black, but he doesn’t exactly have a busy schedule right now, he could have shown up for more. Helen Mirren has expressed interest in playing the bad guy in the next one, and Vin Diesel has said he’d like it to be in New York. I think that opens some interesting possibilities.

Either way, we know that once again they’ll find some over the top sequences to show us, and they’ll reinvent themselves. Again.

Also, I’ll be watching. 

The Fast and The Furious Week: Meet the Bizzaro Crew

Up until now, I’ve been pretty free with spoilers, since most of the Fast and the Furious movies have been out since the dawn of time itself.  I’m a little nervous as we move into Fast and the Furious 6, the first in the series that gave up the idea of trying to stylize the name. It did come out only two years ago, and in spoiler time, that’s like nothing. I guess I’m trying to say, spoiler alert.

            It’s important to start with a spoiler alert, because I’m going to address a topic that’s near and dear to my heart: Han. RIP, Han. Your death will hopefully mean something in the long run, but come on. Why the hell aren’t more people talking about the fact that Han’s death means we’re seeing a movie starring Jason Statham, Vin Diesel, and The Rock? I feel this should be blasted over every movie poster. Jason Statham. Vin Diesel. The Rock. The sheer awesomeness of these three forces combining into one movie is going to tear all of our collective faces off. And all it took was the death of Han, which finally puts Tokyo Drift into a better time context. (And means Sean is going to be in Furious 7. More on that tomorrow.)

            But I’m getting ahead of myself. Fast and the Furious 6 starts off with a twist… the road race between Dom and Brian slated at the end of Fast Five was not continuing, rather, they are racing to the hospital for the birth of Brian’s son. Which does lead one to ask the essential question: Yes, we get that you both like to drive, but maybe you carpool this this specific event. But this places the narrative nine months following the events of the last movie.

            Meanwhile… Luke Hobbs is still trying to figure out just who is robbing military transports, and the answer falls squarely on the head of a dude named Shaw, played by Luke Evans in his most non-Draculay role to date. Out of all options, he realizes the best way to stop a criminal is to think like a criminal, so he goes off to find Dom and gather his crew, promising them their freedom – with their millions of dollars – if they can help take Shaw down.

            At this point I’d like to point out that this will be the second (number two) time that Brian will need his name cleared. Rome, too, I guess, but he’s too likeable to not be pardoned ALL THE TIME.

            Obviously, they get back into the action, driven by the knowledge that Letty is now alive, but with amnesia, as she can no longer remember her previous life. Later, she and Dom bond over some light car racing, she rejoins the group just in time for a daring action sequence where they take down an airplane with a few cars.  This comes after a battle with a tank. Unfortunately, Gisele does not survive, sacrificing herself to save her love, Han.

            After they are given their freedom and a scene where they join together as family, we are treated to our final scene that I alluded to before. Han, on the streets of Tokyo, presumably having taught Sean all he needed to know to becoming the Drift King, is T-boned by a mysterious car. Jason Statham hops out, throws a necklace we saw Shaw with previously, and then let Dom know that he was coming for him… after the car explodes.

            As I’ve mentioned previously, the Fast and the Furious franchise has been one that is interested primarily with the relationship between Dom and Brian, forming sort of a family that they lead. And, the movies themselves have a complicated relationship with the law vs. “what is right.” When we first meet Dom, he is doing heists to get money. By Fast Five, the money is to provide for his family, mostly for Brian, Mia, and their child.  But they still embody that code of honor: they don’t really kill, and they will protect each other above all others.

            This movie takes the focus away from their relationship, and focuses a bit more on what their team could have become in an opposite world.  Quick nerd alert: I’m going to use the term “Bizzaro” to talk about Shaw and his crew. For those who don’t know, the Bizzaro World is from Superman, where everything is opposite. Hello is goodbye, up is down, good is bad. The Bizzaro Superman is the Superman who does bad, has a backwards S, and shoots ice out of his eyes. (No explanation of why he can fly…)

            Shaw and his crew, now with Letty, are the Bizzaro version of our intrepid band of heroes and their status as family. Rather than try to save someone who is captured, Shaw announces that the person must have done something wrong. Had that happened to Dom and his crew, they would have rushed in to save them. Essentially, this is the story about how Dom and Brian are the good guys, despite their addiction to fast cars and money. They just can’t be tamed by the law – something that they constantly reject because it stifles what they love. Shaw as a Bizzaro Dom certainly holds true during the end fight scene, which features each individual as they fight their Bizzaro world duplicate. It is also the reason that someone is finally able to take them down. Gisele dies for love, rather than selfishness. It’s a stark contrast to what we’ve seen before.

            Justin Lin, the director behind the rebirth of the franchise, could have easily made a spinoff movie that was simply Hobbs fighting against Shaw and his crew. And we would have watched, and despite the fact that Shaw was doing everything that Dom was, we would have rooted for Hobbs to win. (Not just because he’s played by the Rock, who should win everything, anyway.) This juxtaposition of characters is important, it reminds us that the spirit of family is what keeps these guys from being one note villians.

            This is never more evident than with the switching of Letty. Once again, we are presented with a character who, given any other circumstances, is now a “bad guy.” But even without her memory, even with trying to kill her former crew, when push comes to shove they stand up for her, because she’s part of the their family. Which is why she is never fully accepted by the Bizzaro Crew: because she can’t cut them loose when they threaten her. She needs a crew that she feels at home.

            And, after all of this, isn’t that what these movies are about? Finding a family you can stick with. Reconciling who you really are.

            Tomorrow: We say goodbye to Paul Walker and to Brian O’Conner.

The Fast and The Furious Week: Time for a Honeymoon...

Fourth movies in a franchise are harsh. Remember when we were all promised a brand new start to the Indiana Jones Franchise, and we got our fridges nuked and Shia Lebeouf fighting off CGI Monkeys? Remember that great moment when we all wondered in what the world had to behold when we learned that there would be an all CGI character named “Jar Jar Binks?” Even the fourth Harry Potter movie was kind of dire, ending in death. And the fourth Hunger Games is shaping up to be all the most depressing moments from that last book. (Which part are you looking forward to? The when Prim dies or when Katniss spends a good portion of her time recovering from massive burns?). So, when the fourth Fast and Furious movie, Fast and Furious, ended in a cliffhanger, it was a bold move. 

Fortunately, the Fourth movie went all out and was essentially a reboot of the whole idea of what was at the core of Fast and the Furious and their franchise. Brian O’Conner back in the FBI, then finally leaving it. The Conclusion was essentially the ending of the whole will they/won’t they of the Brian/Dom bromance. It reinvigorated the franchise, and it was undeniably good. It had all the action that you’ve come to expect, with fast cars and moral dilemmas. Good guys lost, bad guys won, and the law failed. And zero CGI monkeys, aliens for another dimension, or ending with the death of an actor who will be freed to go unleash the Twilight movies on us.

The fifth movie, Fast Five, picks up right where the fourth left off, with Brian, Mia, and the rest of his crew working to free Dom on his way to prison. Short version of this, they free him, managing to do it without killing anyone or freeing any other prisoner. Then we’re given a glimpse of what being on the run is really like, as Mia and Brian are out of money and out of options, ending up in Rio and at the door of Vince, who you’ll remember was able to ID Brian as a cop in the first movie. (And hasn’t been seen since.) He has a family now, and… one last job that’s easy money.

Quick pro-tip: If you find yourself in a movie, if anyone says that something is “easy” money, it’s code for “you’re going to find yourself being killed.”

Also, in a twist, Mia is pregnant. 

Anyway, Brian, Mia, and Vince go on the heist, and to no one’s great surprise, everything goes wrong. Turns out that they were after one specific car, they were seized by the DEA, and a bloody gunfight ends with several dead agents, Dom showing up, and puts them on the radar of Luke Hobbs (The Rock!) 

The group finds out that the car contains a chip that contains information about a mega-crime lord named Reyes and his various drops. Targeted by the DEA and Reyes’ men, the trio decides that the movie needs to be less another Fast and Furious movie and more an Oceans 11 movie, so they gather a crew of faces from previous movies, including Rom, Han, Gisele, Tej… to steal the money. Of course they do, but not after saving Luke Hobbs’ life and a dramatic car chase through the streets of Rio dragging a giant safe. 

After the credits, Hobbs’ gets a little visit… and discovers that Letty is alive!

As I’ve mentioned, this movie serves several purposes. Broadly, it seeks to reinvent the series. Yes, there’s fast cars zooming through the streets… one of the more ridiculous moments comes when they all steal four police cars and they take a few minutes to have the loudest impromptu race possible… but rather than a simple race/drug running movie, we have a full on heist movie, straight with a crew and twists galore. It allows more layers to the series, as well as allowing it to grow up so to speak. No longer tied to simply having the characters race cars, they get to use those skills. 

This also continues the idea of the ominous, unbending police presence that this movie likes to push. Luke Hobbs starts as one of the one-note police officers that blamed Brian when he wanted to get more information before raiding the warehouse in the first movie, but is able to evolve. When we first meet him, we get a sense of his authoritative voice and he presence. He could have easily just devolved into a terminator like drone, off to get Dom, Brian, and Mia. He isn’t really an antagonist, despite the fact that he is going up against our crew. When his police officers are murdered, he’s able to join them and even give them some space.

Where this movie excels is in the solidification of not only the group as a family, but as Brian and Dom as the head of that family. The re-introduction of Rome and Vince remind the group that when we met these two, they had other, more important right-hand men, people that literally saved their lives. Remember, in the forgotten ending of 2Fast 2Furious, Rome and Brian went off on their won to open a garage with stolen money… Dom is an interloper in their bromance. Vince was the person who was jealous of Brian and his relationship of Dom. But in the end, it is only Brian and Dom, driving together, perfectly in sync, that saves the day. They’re even dragging the symbolic baggage behind them that’s causing trouble. It’s only by releasing it to their friends that the burden is lightened. Essentially, the last movie was the will they/won’t they. This movie is basically the honeymoon: the two characters are now linked together, even more so now that Dom will be an Uncle to Brian and Mia’s baby. 

There’s also the focus on fatherhood in this movie, and taking responsibility. Brian doesn’t remember his father; Dom not only remembers his father but the fact that he had a good father. He wants that for his sister’s child. That’s half the reason they even commit this crime, to solidify a life for all of them; to allow them to be together as a family once and for all. Really it’s a continuation of the emotional journey that started all of this. Dom can be a father because he knows who he is, but Brian has to discover it. That’s why Dom is more the head of the family, while Brian, an equal member, is still trying to discover himself. Remember, he didn’t belong with law enforcement so much that he joined up with the “bad guys” not once but twice.

Of course, they do end up becoming a family and free, unaware of just what is going to happen in the next two chapters. 

Tomorrow: Letty’s alive, they meet up with the Bizzaro crew, and we get the moment that made me want to go back and watch all of these movies that we’re not talking about, and I don’t know why we aren’t. 

Fast and The Furious Week: True Bromance

Believe it or not, there is an emotional core to the Fast and the Furious Franchise. It’s the bromance between Dominic and Brian that really drives these movies forwards. (See what I did there?) 2Fast and Tokyo Drift showed us that just slapping characters in cars and having them race for absurd reasons like “honor” and “to win more cars” and “honeys” doesn’t mean anything if we can’t get behind the Point Break-like bromance between criminal and police officer. Which is why those two movies are so weak within the franchise themselves, they have destroyed the emotional core of the movies. 

Essentially it’s Romeo and Juliet, but for guys and with far less killing.

The world didn’t really NEED a Fourth Fast and Furious movie when it was announced that Vin Diesel, reprising his role from Tokyo Drift and Paul Walker, inexplicably no longer opening a garage with his friend Rome from the end of 2Fast. But it was a reminder that the movie itself, which at this point was given three more chances to shine than other movies people were demanding more of… say Dredd or Firefly, which has active fan bases of people demanding more, rather than an executive saying… “Hey, that last movie did ok… let’s get Vin Diesel back.” 

Sorry, mini-rant over.

The fourth movie starts simultaneously with a nod to where it had been before and with a bold new vision into the future of where the next four movies are going to take us: with a heist. Not just an heist, but with Dominic and his crew, last seen in the original movie,  (Plus Han, connecting us to the previous movie) trying to take down a tanker full of Texas Tea… Black Gold… you know the stuff. After a wild chase that involves, ultimately, a tanker full of gas exploding, Dominic decides the heat is too much, and leaves his crew, not before Han leaves with a scene and a line that lets us know that soon he’ll be training a young Paul Walker stand-in, Lucas Black. 

Meanwhile, Brian O’Conner is now working for the FBI, having had his name cleared at the end of the other movie, and with the FBI completely forgetting that having a clear name is fun and all, but he did go undercover and let the guy he was watching go, which is pretty much the only rule when you go undercover. Don’t let the guy you’re watching go. There isn’t another rule, other than that. 

Anyway, Brian is trying to take down a drug dealer named Braga, but none of this is important because Dominic’s Girlfriend, Letty is murdered, thrusting him back into action and into the path of Brian, because it was Braga who was responsible. Fortunately, Braga just happens to be having a street race to see who is going to help him smuggle Heroin, and the FBI, forgetting the reason that Brian needed his name cleared to begin with, enters him in the race, along with Dominic. They race, Dominic wins and gets a chance to smuggle heroin (and get closer to Braga.)

It keeps going like this, but the shorter version: Letty was working with Brian to clear Dominc’s name, there’s more cool car races, they stop Braga, and then, shocker among shockers, the FBI lies and DOESN’T clear Dominic’s name (who Brian was going to let run, again) and the movie ends with Brian and Dominic’s crew (minus Han, who’s Tokyo Drifting) preparing to bust him out of prison. 

Whew. That’s quite the journey. There’s a lot more plot in there than the previous movies. 

This movie shifts us back away from the fancy cars and adventure into a more streamlined story about the bromance of Brian and Dominic. They start the movie apart, and back in their original roles. This movie is less a “sequel” to the previous three and more of a reboot that puts the pieces back into square one, while lightly acknowledging that several events occurred previously. By putting Han into the action and having him start out by leaving the group to start the events of the third movie, they’ are simultaneously putting those events in play for a future installment (more on that on my analysis of Fast 6) and the removal of Rome helps to eliminate the events of the second movie, for the time being. (He’ll show up again. Which is good, I like Tyreese Gibson) But this shifts the action back into where it belongs: the bromance between the two main characters. 

Here we have a stripped down version of their relationship. No longer enemies, they are moving towards the same goal of taking down the drug dealer, albeit for different reasons. Brian, now emotionally invested because of Letty’s death, is once again caught in shifting loyalties, but we have a removal of the code that was present in the first movie for both parties: Brian is no longer torn because his identity is exposed, and Dominic doesn’t have a real crew to be loyal to, just his dead girlfriend. He even choses not to expose Brian during several opportunities, ostensibly because they can take each other down, but in the long run it’s no secret who Dominic is: he was pretty famous in the world of illegal street racing long before Braga came along. 

This is never more evident as the two characters are slowly coming together. Really this movie could have chosen to have them meet up at the first race that was a proving ground for their driving skills. However, rather than focus on the car racing issue, the movie focuses by having them meet up in the apartment of a criminal, as their two opposing views come into play: Dominic is going to kill a man for not giving information, the same information that Brian needs to continue his investigation into Braga. At this point, Dominic doesn’t realize that Brian is trying to do the same thing, and they have the same goals, and his actions, essentially “bad cop” by dangling a guy out of the window, result in furthering both of their goals.

The movie also reminds us about the characters with some subtle cues early on. Brian, having joined the FBI, is first seen clad in grey, chasing down a street punk. As he starts to fall back into old patterns, re-ignited by the return of his old brofriend, his wardrobe shifts more and more to what we are familiar with, including the shoes he uses to press the gas pedals, which is why most of us are in the theatre. Dominic is first seen not wearing his usual street clothes, but is in a more formal button up shirt. Both characters start the movie literally “out of character” and it is not until they are reunited that they can become who they really are, and the characters we want to see. 

In the end, though, we have a shift in loyalty as Brian once again risks it all for Dominic. Remember, though, it is the criminals who have always been loyal: Letty died trying to clear Dominic’s name by working for Brian, and it is the justice system that failed Dominic by failing to honor the code - the deal they made with Brian to free Dominic. Brian is attempting to make things right.

Tomorrow: The second movie is finally acknowledged, Letty’s true fate is teased, and… Can you smell… what the Rock… is Cooking?

The Fast and The Furious Week: Point Break, With More Cars!

I’ve always been kind of fascinated with the Fast and Furious movie series, as a movie lover, as a writer, and as a guy that just generally enjoys watching fast cars drive around. And sometimes turn into robots. And then doesn’t last too long. And doesn’t involve a protracted argument for statutory rape. That being said, why hasn’t Fast and the Furious crossed over with Transformers yet? Seriously? I can’t be the only one who has thought about this.

Regardless, I’ve always been fascinated with this franchise. It came out in 2001 and was pretty much a fun summer movie that involved fast cars and all the PG-13 violence and sex that just allowed their target audience to get in without adult supervision. Then it spawned a sequel where literally only one star - the star made famous by the movie - came back. Then another sequel came out, and literally NO ONE returned. It didn’t even focus on the same thing: fast cars with a bit of heisting on the side. Then everyone came back for four more movies, including one character who was killed off and came back, and former WWE Champion and Tooth Fairy, Dwayne Johnson.

Quick note, I’m going to be making a lot of jokes here, but one I won’t joke about is Paul Walker. Everything I heard is that he was a classy guy, and when he was killed it was coming from a charity event. RIP, man. I’m going to make fun of some stuff, but rest assured, I respect what you did here.

But think of another franchise that has lost literally EVERY cast member, and then gained them back and arose, phoenix like, from the ashes of a franchise that everyone said was pretty much done after the second episode. And keep it somewhat interesting? As a film lover, this just… there’s no other word for it. It just intrigues me. And Iv’e never seen them. I didn’t avoid them, I just sort of skipped the first one, then by the time the Rock was kick-punching his way through Vin Diesel, I was too far off to understand he complicated plot of race car driving while looking as cool as possible while heisting and living life a quarter mile at a time. (Which is actually kind of a sweet story.)

The Fast and the Furious, the first chapter in the franchise, introduces us to Brian O’Connor (Paul Walker), trying to infiltrate a group of racers who might possibly be performing daring heists, led by Dominic (Vin Diesel). Also on this crew is young Jesse who screams “I’m going to die” pretty much five seconds after he’s introduced, Jordana Brewster as the hot sister that Brian is going to fall for, and Vince, some dude who of course suspects Brian of being a cop from day one. You see, the FBI and the Police REALLY want to stop these heists because the truck drivers, tired of having cars steal their precious cargo, are going to start arming themselves, and rather than, you know, trying anything else, they put Brian deep undercover, then proceed to not listen to literally his every word as he falls more and more in with the criminal element.

Think Point Break with less Keanu Reeves and more flashy cars instead of skydiving tricks. 

The first movie is interesting, as it…

Naw, it’s pretty much exactly Point Break. 

Anyway, the first movie is interesting as it frames the story clearly as behaving in the grey area that doesn’t adhere to constructs of right or wrong. Brian, clearly wanting to do what is right, does want to stop the thieves mostly because he wants to stop to further violence that is going to occur by the escalation of violence. The cops are pretty much useless, working for their own agenda, and at one point ignoring Brian when he says that they don’t have the proper evidence to move on the original crew, then blaming him when things go wrong. Then, they pretty much vanish for the rest of the film as it shifts focus to Dominic’s crew.

Dominic and his crew, however, live by a strict code, and Brian has to learn to accept that. Rather than just driving in and racing, then being accepted, he has to learn this code. In fact, it is this code that allows him to turn on the police at the end (spoilers for a movie that came out 14 years ago. We’ve had two Spidermen and three Batmen since then) and let Dominic go, fulfilling his debt from earlier in the movie having finally brought him a “10 second car” (or, a car that can cross the finish line in 10 seconds, in the parlance of the movie.) But it’s an interesting mix of philosophies, both movies exist within these spheres that have codes of honor, and Brian has to sit in the middle of it, trying to stop further violence any way possible. 

Some of it is actually Shakespearean. Most evident of this is the scene in which Dominic talks about winning. This is a flat out monologue given to the audience, it’s almost a Shakespearean aside. Dominic will be a tragic figure, having already fallen once, he would rather die that fall again, and this pride of his does him in, and at one point even costs him his “right hand man” (who literally has his right hand mangled.) It is not until he is able to rise above his pride that he is able to escape to a place that he can finally be free.

While I joke that this is a “heist zoom zoom movie” it’s actually a movie about relationships. Dominic wants to be the head of a family, and this is most evident in the scenes where they are sitting down to dinner. It’s a quiet moment, buried in CGI shots of how the cars get juiced up to go even faster.

As an entry, it’s an interesting one, and very disjointed in the way it plays with the idea of family and codes, but suffers from the fact that characters just tend to vanish at the proper moment. Also, the way Vince decides immediately that Brian, ordering the terrible tuna fish, is not on the level, is WAY too random, and pretty much put in so that the close member of the crew can pull him in while alienating the loose cannon. Fortunately with Dominic getting away and Brian having pretty much let a murderer and their get away (even with his newfound code) there can be a sequel!

2morrow… we get 2Fast AND 2Furious, minus all the other cast members.