Fast and Furious

15, 2009, Directed by Justin Lin
Starring: Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Jordana Brewster, Michelle Rodriguez

Back in 2001, critics labelled Vin Diesel as the next big movie superstar, and despite flops xXx (2002) and The Pacifier (2005), the actor's return to the franchise which launched him (alongside Michelle Rodriguez, Jordana Brewster and, of course, Paul Walker) is warmly welcomed; it's a shame though that this reuniting slice of action is the weakest in the series.

With returning characters at the forefront of the action, Fast and Furious tzkes time to establish each characters standing; Diesel's Toretto and the 'family' - including Sung Kang's Han, imediately placing the film's chronology pre-Toky Drift, are still committing highway heists, whilst Walker's Brian O'Conner is inexplicably working for the FBI in LA. Despite a thrilling extended opening that reintroduces the team like they never left us, inputting slow-mo to heighten the thrills, Fast and Furious plays like an extended episode of a US soap. The over-arching plot involving heroin importer and cartel leader Arturo Braga (Jon Ortiz) proves pretty similar to previous story attempts, which isn't to say the many plot-twists all work (an early death shocks) and seeing the cast reunited lives up to whatever expectation there was.

The original's fresh foot-pumping street races are absent, replaced with more lazily-constructed efforts to exhilarate – perhaps best summed up by a street slalom where the characters are denied improvisation –due to the placement of a sat nav. But, that breathlessly-paced opener just about carries you throughout, and when lines are spoken such as ‘When the GPS calls, you follow”, it's hard not to be entertained. With fuel injected late on, Justin Lin ensures that once the climax zooms past, you’ll be drawn back into the mindless shenanigans of Toretto and co., and ready to take your seat for numero five.

2.5/5

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The Fast and the Furious

15, 2001, Directed by Rob Cohen
Starring: Paul Walker, Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Jordana Brewster

It's somewhat a shock to consider that The Fast and the Furious raced onto cinema screens well over a decade ago - in the summer of 2001 - to impressively rave reviews. It's testament to Rob Cohen’s original that what has become a guaranteed bankable franchise has stood its ground amidst the insurgence of 3D and the moody superhero blockbuster. Upon retrospect, what The Fast and the Furious does so well is what every ensuing film in the series has done since; embraces its mindlessness in a winking manner. Whilst the original was aimed at thrill-seekers who love their cars shiny, fast and surrounded by scantily-clad women, in essence all it comes across as is Point Break - minus the bank-robbing surfers, but with added truck-robbing street racers.

First time around, the cast may not cause much to shout about. We've got Vin Diesel’s Dominic Toretto, the hulking silent leader of the street-racing ‘family’ which consists of Michelle Rodriguez’s Letty, Toretto’s sister Mia (Jordana Brewster) – and new addition Brian O’Conner (Paul Walker), whose loyalties are tested in ways you are meant to care about in between the frenetically-paced car race sequences. It has to be admitted though that although the cast haven't gone on to the illustrious careers expected of them (between them, flops range from xXx to Into the Blue), perhaps these were the characters they were born to play.

3/5

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