The Fast and the Furious

****
UK Release Date: September 14th 2001

Los Angeles police officer Brian O'Connor must decide where his loyalties really lie when he becomes enamored with the street racing world he has been sent undercover to destroy.

Director: Rob Cohen (Alex Cross, xXx, Dragonheart)

Starring: Paul Walker, Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Jordana Brewster

Who needs A-listers? It's a breath of fresh air to see relatively unknowns dominate an entire movie. The Fast and The Furious is an high adrenaline, turbo charged ride with an exciting cast, thrilling car races and solid action.

Even though Paul Walker's fame has risen due to TFatF, his undercover police officer Brian O'Connor is as bland as his blonde hair. Vin Diesel is easily the winner here. He sparked interest with cinema-goers with blah blah's Pitch Black. Dominic Toretto is a skulking, brooding mass of testosterone who exudes strength and leadership wherever he goes.

The attractive Jordana Brewster grabs the men's attention and the same goes for Walker and Diesel for the women. They're not just good looking, they're idols; someone we'd like to be or to be around if we had the guts to do it.

The Fast and the Furious has a very light plot, one that needs little thought process. You may see everything coming before it happens, but that doesn't stop it from being fun. The car racing scenes are very fast and very furious. You can almost smell the burnt rubber from the tyres. A fine mixture of CGI and stunt-work is all we need.

This film only takes its foot off the gas when we're pulled away to deal with some troublesome gangsters, but apart from that we're firmly in the passenger seat, waiting for the next ride.