PG-13, 1 hr. 59 min. Directed by:
Dominic Sena. Release Date: Jun 09, 2000. DVD Release Date: Dec 05, 2000.
****REPOSTED FROM THE LATE LATE SHOW WITH NEW COMMENTS AND EDITS****
As remakes go, this is fairly
successful. Stunt driving, action, and a bit sexy, this is what Fast &
The Furious has failed to achieve four make that five times now.
I hate Nicholas Cage. There’s
something about him that makes me want to punch him in the face. It’s pretty
rare that I own one of his movies, but then, Nicholas Cage is just a part of a
really great cast made up of names, faces, and then some random finds that
works well together in the same way that Ocean’s Eleven had a strange
mix of celebs that worked out well. Sometimes, the ensemble cast works wonders,
and this was one of those times. While I think that individually, there were a
few weak performances, the overall image brought to the audience by the cast is
fairly positive. But, I own this movie, so I guess after all that ranting Nick Cage's presence wasn't such a horrible thing.
The story is fun and moderately
thought provoking when combined with a long night of Grand Theft Auto. I
had to wonder how realistic it is that car thieves work in such organized
groups with the backing of semi-powerful crime syndicates. But, rather than
really sit down and pick apart the realism of the film, I generally just sit
back and enjoy the stunt driving. Gearheads will LOVE the various high-end and
muscle cars that flock their way through the film.
Where I think this movie fails is
the special effects, both the lack of car effects during (and after) the thefts
themselves, and the technology these guys bring to bear in their snatches.
Let’s face it, these guys are seriously head and shoulders above the stereotype
of a guy breaking into a car using a jimmy and a crowbar.
