After crashing and burning with 2006′s Tokyo Drift, director Justin Lin takes the Fast & Furious franchise back to its casting roots by reuniting Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Michelle Rodriguez and Jordana Brewster from first film. Just like each unnecessary sequel before it, his latest effort offers souped-up cars, hot women and explosive action that results when brawny men mix with each of the above.  But if it’s not fast and furious automotive action you’re after, hoping instead for a cohesive character driven plot, then you’re more likely to just get furious pretty damn fast.

Taking place after 2 Fast 2 Furious, Dom (Diesel) decides to give up his unlawful line of work – the high-speed hijacking of fuel tankers – to take the heat off  of him and his girlfriend Letty (Rodriguez). Meanwhile, Brian (Walker) is part of a FBI operation aiming to bring down Arturo Braga, a drug lord who traffics heroin across the Mexican border.  When Letty is ruthlessly killed by Braga’s right hand man, Dom teams up with Brian to infiltrate the drug lord’s team of highly skilled drivers so he can get close enough to enact his revenge.

The film kicks right into gear during the exhilarating opening sequence where Dom and his crew hijack a moving fuel tanker on the deadly roads of the Dominican Republic. Before long, you’ll sadly come to the realisation that the reason why this sequence is actually good is because it has nothing to do with the rest of the film. Once the plot decides to show its ugly face, it quickly becomes uninvolving and tedious. With its multiple plot twists and secrets, Fast & Furious likes to pretend it has some brains behind all the brawn. But if you take a moment to think about what the film is actually depicting, you’ll notice the unnecessarily convoluted narrative is actually quite simplistic.

Not unexpected, but the plot also drifts well past plausibility;  for example, much of the film revolves around a long secret tunnel system that exists between the Mexico and US border, which is accessed by a hidden gateway disguised as a rock face. Rather than a film about illegal street racing, it instead felt like I was watching Austin Powers where Dr. Evil’s new hideout was being revealed. It doesn’t help that the CGI spoilt climax takes place within these tunnels, making for a cartoonish chase sequence straight out of last year’s Speed Racer.   In fact, all the real stunt work seems to be reserved for the opening sequence and one brief street race, which itself contains an overuse of sloppy CGI. Couple this with editing that makes certain you have no spatial perception and you’ve got yourself the worst film of the franchise since, well, the last one Justin Lin helmed.

There’s also something unkind to be said about the fact that Vin Diesel is perhaps the most credible cast member attached to the film. To be fair, Diesel does suit the role of a beefy rev-headed criminal, if not simply for the relevance of his last name.  This same way of thinking goes towards explaining why Paul Walker isn’t as suited, offering up a typically vacant performance that makes Diesel look highly expressive in comparison.  Rodriguez and Brewster are lucky enough to be the only two females in the film whose faces get more screen time than their ass, despite the fact that Rodriguez is killed off within minutes and Brewster’s character is as valuable to the plot as a condom is to the Catholic Church. Speaking of birth control, here’s hoping director Justin Lin pulls out before Fast and Furious 5 inevitably gets the green light.

Verdict:

After the exhilarating opening sequence, Fast & Furious slips into reverse and backs its way into an illogical plot featuring unengaging characters and uninspired action.

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