Reviewing Fast & Furious: Dom Is Back

Billed as "New Model. Original Parts," Fast & Furious is the 4rth film of The Fast and The Furious series. It also brings back the casts from the original movie reuniting them for the first time since 2001 when the first movie was released. It is glaringly obvious that without Vin Diesel as Dominic Toretto and Paul Walker as Brian O'Conner then the sequels are just not as good as the original.

Fast & Furious takes place somewhere between the 2nd (2 Fast 2 Furious) and the 3rd (Tokyo Drift) movies. In this movie, Dom and Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) are together in the Dominican Republic running heists on transport trucks. But heat from the police is getting too hot and Dom has to break up his new gang. Han from Tokyo Drift is part of this gang and will be heading to Japan as he and Dom part ways. Meanwhile, Dom also leaves Letty so that she may start a new life without him and the baggage that he brings.

Time passes by and Dom, living somewhere in South America, receives a telephone call from his sister, Mia (Jordana Brewster), letting him know that Letty was murdered. Dom then heads back to the US, still as a wanted criminial, to figure out what happened. Because of his love for Letty, Dom vows revenge. His quest to discover the Letty's killer leads him to, what else, a street race where the racers vie for a job as a driver for a known big-time drug dealer.

At the same time, his former racing mate and a recently reinstated FBI agent, Brian O'Conner, is investigating the same drug dealer with plans of his own to bring him to justice. O'Conner also enters the race.

The thin storyline is just an excuse to put these guys behind fast cars and begin entertaining the audience with racing action at breakneck speed. Director Justin Lin is excellent with car chases in urban streets (the best parts of Tokyo Drift). The thing I wish the movie has more are car race scenes, but the story doesn't call for it. Nevertheless, action movies like these are enjoyed by viewers. It has a lot of action scenes that capture your attention and blow you away, making the impossible look possible.

The storyline is no doubt flimsy but it had a twist. You don't go see a movie like Fast & Furious to watch an Oscar drama. You want action!

Now, the trailers lead us to believe that the whole gang is together again. But really, only Dom and O'Conner have the significant roles. And that's enough to make the number 1 box office over the first weekend with $72.5 million. The movie is built around fast cars, but no doubt that Vin Diesel as Dom is the guy to see. It's his movie. This is obvious when everyone got excited when he made a cameo in Tokyo Drift.

All in all, Fast & Furious is recommended. It's a highly entertaining movie. It is best to just head out, don't think about it, sit down, and enjoy a movie that will blow your mind.