Speed? There are two kinds. The straight-line haul-ass American kind. And the get-sideways-over-twisty-mountain-passes European kind. And I like the second kind better. I mean, hey, sure, ’Fast and the Furious’ has loads of fast flashy cars (and a couple of nice hotties, just to keep things interesting...), but most of the SPEED is straight-line. A bunch of motorheads drag-racing each other in the night is all very well, but I would rather see those Evos and Celicas and Supras and Imprezas get seriously SIDEWAYS. I want big-time power-slides, I want WRC-style oversteer, AND I want Ferrari F355s and Lamborghini Diablos. What’s a speed movie without Italian machinery...?!

The background score is good, and some race sequences are shot well. The lead characters (and especially Vin Diesel) all do justice to their parts - more or less - and the film is generally slick. All the right visual cues in all the right places. The screenplay, though, could’ve been a bit tighter, crisper. Not bad, overall. Seeing it once is a must (just so you can talk about it with your mates...), but you wouldn’t want to see this one a second time... :-(

And can we have another ’Fast and the Furious’? One that has superbikes instead of cars, and LOADS of street racing and AC Farias-style stunts... :-)

Cast: Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Michelle Rodriguez, Jordana Brewster, etc.
Director: Rob Cohen, with the screenplay by Gary Scott Thompson and David Ayer.