Review of The Fast and the Furious (2001) by Pur__0_0__ — 23 Sep 2021

If I were alive in my full senses in 2001 and had seen The Fast and the Furious, there is no way I could have possibly thought that this film will turn into a full blown franchise in the coming years. I mean the whole concept of these films is basically the cutscenes of a Need for Speed game. But still since I thought probably this franchise is supposed to be about something other than that too, I decided to give it a watch just to prove myself wrong. And I was wrong. This franchise isn't just about the racing. It's also about talking, talking and even more talking.

The Fast and the Furious is not exactly a kind of a film that I would call memorable. The only scenes I remember from it are the beginning where Brian does the illegal street racing, the part where his secret identity is blown up and where the team is doing the truck stunts (I only remember that part because of the meme template). Other than that when it comes to this film, my mind literally goes blank. And wouldn't it be? I was watching it without subtitles in the metro while travelling for college. When I do this I only remember the most memorable scenes from a movie. From here I only remembered that much.

I really liked the character of Brian. It's really sad that Paul Walker is no longer with us. He's literally the reason why I decided to continue watching this franchise, otherwise I'd have given up just like I did for Stuart Little, Hotel Transylvania and Jurassic Park. Thankfully this franchise becomes better with the sequels and redeems the name. I also liked Dominic in this film (but just this one). His dialogue about not mattering whether we lose by an inch or a mile really made me ponder a lot.

Honestly this really goes above my head how a film with so much talking turned into what it is today. It's like if you don't give up on a bad film you can actually create an empire and then redeem your old films (looking at you Warner Bros). This film has gained a cult status among the fans and I respect that decision. I would have loved to rewatch this film to prove myself wrong, but remembering how much talking happens in it and the fact that it doesn't have the same payoff as a superhero or sci-fi movie really turns me off.