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As the approach of Memorial Day inched closer, I pushed the rewind button. I viewed and reviewed each of the Fast and Furious movies. The truth is, I don’t know for sure if I will see Fast & Furious 6 on the big screen. However, its mere presence as the undisputed box office champion during Memorial Day weekend means that Fast & Furious 6 and the previous five entries deserve a little more attention than I have given them.

Some people LOVE these movies. Please remember, I am not much of a car fan.

The Fast and the Furious (2001) 7/10

The first movie introduces us to Brian O’Conner (Paul Walker). He is an undercover FBI agent assigned to find out who has been hijacking truck loads of very expensive electronic equipment for sale on the black market. O’Conner has some extreme driving talents that allow him to compete in the world of late night street racing in Los Angeles. Some of the folks who flaunt their souped-up cars and race dangerously are suspected of heisting the electronics. Brian shifts his way into the car underworld and becomes associated with Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel), a prominent figure in the car competitions. O’Conner’s loyalties are tested when he falls for Toretto’s sister, (Jordana Brewster) and is exposed to Toretto’s personal life and charisma.

The Fast and the Furious actually is a good film. Walker’s reserved and confident younger brother like portrayal of O’Conner plays well against the tough, life experience delivery of Vin Diesel’s Toretto. There is chemistry between the two and they successfully come across as obsessed with speed, almost like high school students learning about engines for the first time. Director Rob Cohen succeeded masterfully in showing cars that look better than anything we ever played with as kids or have driven as adults. His race scenes are full of quick, jerky camera angles which put the viewer in the vehicles, along for the ride. There is plot weirdness and decisions by the characters that leave you wondering “what the?”, but most of the action is well done. As the film ends, O’Conner’s undercover status is exposed to the disbelieving Toretto.

Audiences embraced it, surprising the box office world with an opening of over $40 million. The film paid for itself in one weekend…and then went on to burn rubber for the next several weeks. When all was said and done, The Fast and the Furious had made $144 million domestic with another $62 million from overseas markets. Universal was happy enough with the outcome that it decided to build on the model…

2 Fast 2 Furious (2003) 5/10

Installment two is not as good as the first one. Paul Walker is back as Brian O’Conner, but the setting has shifted to South Florida. O’Conner is doing fairly well on his own, dominating the high speed illegal race scene in Miami. However, his commanding officers from the previous film track him down and give him the opportunity to atone for his actions at the end of The Fast and the Furious. He must use his driving talents to help them nab drug lord Carter Verone. Along the way he taps the driving skills of former friend Roman Pearce (Tyrese Gibson). Tensions between competing law enforcement interests surface, and the bad guys attempt to get away.

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