Vin Diesel fuels "Furious 4" comeback

"When the GPS system calls, you follow." Universal pictures started the profitable franchise The Fast & The Furious back in 2001. This speedy-paced car-driven movie centered around two diametrically opposed characters: Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel), a multiracial driver who is part of an L.A. street racer gang involved in hijacking, and Brian O'Connor (Paul Walker), a white undercover cop who befriends him.Umpteen adrenalin-pumping car chases, illegal races and crime sprees later Toretto is on the lam in Mexico, separated from his hard-driving girlfriend Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) and O'Connor has romanced Toretto's sister Mia (Jordana Brewster). This initial movie earned $144 million at the box office.

The sequel, 2 Fast 2 Furious, starred Walker and Tyrese was directed by John Singleton and earned $127 million. Chapter 3, The Fast And The Furious: Tokyo Drift featured Lucas Black and was directed by Taiwanese born filmmaker Justin Lin who had a kinetic style; it made $62 million. Considering the lineage and the decreasing box office, pumping new life into the series before it crashed seemed paramount. But how? Simple, bring the best elements back together.

These days Dominic Toretto and his girlfriend Letty hijack oil tankers from hapless truck drivers in the Dominican Republic. The law still hunts him, and seemingly nothing will drag him back to the states. Until one day, something bad happens to Letty. Toretto returns to the City of Angles to track down the devil who messed with his girl.

Of course he encounters O'Connor, who pursues the same villain; the cop's investigation takes him back to Mia, begging her to forgive his deception.

This time the crime spree involves smuggling heroin from Mexico through secret tunnels into the U.S. Toretto and O'Connor insinuate themselves into a deadly gang that uses fast car drivers to traffic the drugs. Can they trust each other? Can they find the crime lord, Letty's nemesis? They've got 107 minutes to do just that. Buckle your seat belts...

The film starts with a daredevil caper on a windy, mountainous rode involving muscle cars and a truck hauling four tanks filled with oil. The way Toretto and Letty steal the gas is inventive but not impressive. Surprisingly the first chase scene that gets blood pumping is a foot pursuit where O'Connor runs after a crook who has a vital piece of information.

Down streets, over chain-linked fences, across rooftops the camera-work of Amir M Mokri (Bad Boys II) pulls you into the sequence like you were a pedestrian giving chase. With the momentum building, Fast & Furious hints that it will make your heart race sooner than later.

The characters make the audience feel at home. And the ensemble of twenty-something Asian, Latino, Black and White supporting characters reminds us how the 2001 version was a unique film that embraced America's burgeoning, multi-ethnic melting pot.

The plotline unravels in a comprehensive manner; it's easy to follow, unpredictable enough to be intriguing and it never gets in the way of the action scenes that evolve with increasing alarm and build to an explosive finale. You can't ask much more of a script for an action/crime/thriller: set up the characters, define the situation, be logical, and then get out the way.

Bringing back Justin Lin to direct the proceedings was a smart move. Rob Cohen, the 2001 director, is too Hollywood, evidenced by his latest work The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. John Singleton's strength is drama, not action. Lin's got the feel for a good chase scene, his finger is on the pulse of today's adolescents and he never lets the exposition, drama or romance take priority over movement. He, along with the editors Fred Raskin and Christian Wagner, create a rhythm that keeps on trucking.

Fast & Furious is not Shakespeare. Nor has it reinvented the car-chasing action movie genre. But, it certainly has breathed new life into a series that, creatively, was beginning to run on empty. A nice, high-octane surprise.

Visit NNPA Film Critic Dwight Brown at www.DwightBrownInk.com.