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