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The Fast & The Furious
In the heart of LA, street racing is King. The Prince of the roads is Dom
Toretto (Vin Diesel), an experienced driver who puts other wanna-be’s to shame
every week. Meanwhile, a team of elite drivers dressed in black hijack trucks
with high-tech gadgets and weaponry. Who are they? And why are they stealing
truck shipments? Cue young LAPD officer Brian O’Connor; ordered by his
superiors to infiltrate the street racing scene and find out who’s behind these
sophisticated crimes. He gets a cool car to fit in with the street racing
elite, but can’t drive too well.
O’Connor sets his sights on Dom Toretto and his crew; sister Mia (Jordana
Brewster), Dom’s girlfriend Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) and a few of Dom’s
mates. O’Connor goes deep undercover as he believes Toretto might be the
culprit behind the crimes. When Brian saves Dom from being arrested after a
street race, Toretto takes Brian in and includes him in his world. As the
undercover cop gets closer to Dom, and especially his sister, he begins to
doubt that Toretto and his crew are behind it all. As the stakes get higher,
Brian must question his duty as a police officer and his loyalty to his
new-found friends.
The first instalment in the series was a classic example of it’s time.
Street racing was already well-established around the world, with seemingly
young and normal people appearing out of the suburbs and onto the city streets
on Friday nights, with souped-up, flashy and expensive sports cars. The culture
involved was cool, stylish and sophisticated. Their gatherings were well
organised, with racers competing for money and credibility. The style of the
whole film was youthful and fast-paced, with a well-assembled cast that had
good chemistry and strong characters.
Audiences loved it, but many critics have attributed the increasing
popularity in illegal street racing in the early 00’s to this film, and it’s subsequent
sequels. There were some instances in the United States were over-confident
drivers decided to replicate one such scene from the film, where one of the
characters drives his car under a long semi-trailer. With just enough room to
fit his car underneath the truck, the character pulled off a cool move, adding
to the excitement and entertainment of the film. It didn’t turn out so well for
one such driver in “the real world” as he was killed trying to do the same
thing.
The film certainly received some backlash for influencing young
drivers in powerful cars to emulate what they had seen on screen, but this has
always been a constant in the movies. How much can they be blamed really? Aside
from that, the first film did well enough to green light a sequel which hit
screens two years later. Vin Diesel didn’t return for this one, but it would
only be a matter of time before he did…
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