Critic Watch: Fast & Furious

In “Fast & Furious”, Brian O’Conner is tracking down a drug dealer and reunites with ex-pal Dom Toretto to go after a common enemy. With the lack of a good plot to make the story have more depth, it falls on the action which hasn’t changed. On Metacritic.com, this film was given a rating of 45 out of 100, with ratings varying from 20 to 83.

Lisa Schwarzbaum of the Entertainment Weekly gave this film one of the highest score with 83 out of 100. She talks about the long history of this film going back to the first released film eight years ago and the global tour that the franchise has gone. She says “that The Fast and the Furious celebrated great music, cars, and minimally clothed chicks cast as extras” and it is this that was great to watch but that it is no Point Break. She talks about the film briefly, stating that the plot is weak but the old gang is back for one more ride.

Betsy Sharkey of the Los Angeles Times gave this film 70 out of 100. Sharkey talks about how the films use of speed and flashy thrills makes it interesting to who ever likes cars. Going into a little detail of what is happening in the story, Sharkey explains that the films real star is back, Vin Diesel, after 2 sub par films have not shown the hype compared to the original. Without his character, the film wouldn’t have been as good even with the lack of plot.

David Hiltbrand of the Philadelphia Inquirer gave this film 63 out of 100. He says that the car-fetish franchise is back in its fourth film, Fast & Furious. The original gangs returns as well but not much else has changed. This film is just like the rest, a gleaming display of chrome pornography set to race. He goes into the plot of this four film and talks about the events that lead up to this part. He says that this film only succeeds because of the supercharged action comparing it The Road Warrior and due partly to Diesel’s character.

Nathan Lee of The New York Times gave this film one of its most given scores with 50 out of 100. He attacks this film by talking about its tagline, “New Model. Original Parts”, which the parts part is referring to the crew that had reunited for another B-movie. He goes after Vin Diesels acting in this film, making him out to be a bad actor that has little acting skills. He talks about the plot and says finally that the script is primitive at best and that the film could lose 20 minutes to better suit its truncated title. On a final note of the rating PG-13 for the film, he says that it was given this due to the outrageous moving violations and tough-guy talk.

Todd McCarthy of Variety gave this film the lowest score on Metacritic.com with 20 out of 100. He says that the film tried to bring back some memories and start up the engine one more time but unfortunately, it fall ways short of all the films in the franchise. He finishes his review says that it is time for everyone to just move on.