Runtime:
106 minutes
Directed
by: Rob Cohen
Starring:
Paul Walker, Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Jordana Brewster, Rick
Yune
From:
Universal
Runtime:
107 minutes
Directed
by: John Singleton
Starring:
Paul Walker, Tyrese, Eva Mendes, Cole Hauser
From:
Universal
On
this random Saturday night where I'm also watching a free UFC event
at the same time (it's been average overall), I figured I should
combine the first two movies in this franchise into one entry. I
still haven't watched Tokyo Drift yet, but as it has little to do
with the rest of the series, that'll be viewed sometime in the
distant future, probably. It should be noted by me that I've never
thought highly of the car culture presented in the franchise... you
know, stupid lame-ass modding of your car, illegal dangerous street
racing-which has killed innocent bystanders-having your car use NOS,
and all that nonsense. I've always thought it was extraordinarilly
stupid, to be honest.
Still,
I always thought that the first movie was entertaining-enough. Sure,
it's easy to poke fun of but it's fine. It's a standard old hot rod
tale of a cop, Brian O'Connor (Walker) going undercover into that
culture to try and find out who is heisting trucks with modded cars.
He doesn't want to believe but turns out it's the group of people led
by Dom Toretto (Diesel); the fact that Brian has fallen in love with
Dom's sister Mia (Brewster) complicates things. A rival Asian gang
led by Johnny Tran (Yune) is also involved.
Like
I said, I always thought this was fine. All the driving is fine to
watch and aside from the whole hijacking and illegal racing thing,
Dom and his crew really are not THAT bad... as long as you're able to
at least tolerate the culture depicted here, then this is inoffensive
entertainment. I never imagined back then that the series would still
be going on and it would lead to something like Fast Five.
I
also saw 2 Fast 2 Furious back in the day, and I never really cared
for it. The plot is that Brian O'Connor is now an ex-cop and on the
run for letting Dom go instead of arresting him. He ends up in Miami
and he has to help the feds on a case to bring down a drug lord; this
is all done via a simple drug shipment with a pair of automobiles.
Monica Fuentes (Mendes) also works for the feds and has been
undercover for the past year. Brian enlists the help of his old
frienemy Roman Pearce (Tyrese).
Even
now, this movie was eh for me. There are some fun moments but
everything just seems slight and inconsequential. There are plenty of
stupid moments, too, and usually in a bad way; I don't even want to
get started on the scene with the rat, an upside down bucket on Mark
Boone Junior's stomach, and a blowtorch. There's plenty of CGI and a
lot of it... not so hot 10 years later. I don't know what to make of
the incredibly homoerotic relationship between Brian and Roman. Roman
takes his shirt off when he's around Brian for no real reason, and he
disapproves of the budding relationship brewing with Brian and
Monica. He does not like it... is it because he wants Brian for
himself? That's fine with me, homosexuality and all that; I just
imagine that wasn't what the filmmakers were going for.
I
know that some like this film; it's not for me. Maybe the title being
so goofy is a sign as to its quality. I'll be back Monday night.
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