I watched Fast & Furious (2009) yesterday. Directed by Justin Lin, the fourth installment of The Fast and the Furious franchise was more entertaining and satisfying and much less cheesy than I was expecting. I’ve seen the first one, the second one (2 Fast 2 Furious) but skipped the third one. I shall not be writing about this film in any narrative or thematic depth, but I would like to say that if you haven’t seen the first one and want to see the fourth one, I recommend watching the first one.
Aside from all the automotive product placing and branding, I have to point out Sprint. The Sprint logo wasn’t hitting up for a close-up every chance it could, but there was a phone call between two of the characters where the logo was featured prominently. There was also a preview for the film Fighting, what a title, right? Not even “Fighting All; Fight Me; Get Fighting; Fighting One; Fighting Might; or Living Fight.” Its poster is nothing to swoon over either. It reminds me of a hog carcass in a butcher barn. I will, however, be watching this film because Brian White is in it and he’s so dreamy. It’s also a sports film. I have to watch it.
Visit the Fast & Furious yahoo movies page here for visual treats.
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In gridiron-related news, I finally finished reading Tom Perrotta’s book Little Children, on which Todd Field’s 2006 film of the same name is based.
I will be formulating my thoughts on certain thematic elements between the book and film…later. Check back for an update.
I was lucky enough to meet Todd Field last fall.
April 5, 2009 at 11:13 pm
I plan to watch all three Fast and Furious films before I go see the new one.
April 6, 2009 at 10:01 am
I notice the original 2 stars are reunited in this one. I enjoyed the first one, not so much the second and by the third it had descended into “the crass and the spurious”. But, sucker that I am, I’ll probably watch Numero (Audi) Quattro
April 6, 2009 at 10:11 am
John Singleton directed the second one. I thought Tyrese and Paul Walk had pretty good chemistry…I even saw it twice in the theatre.
April 7, 2009 at 6:53 pm
[...] April 7, 2009 by sittingpugs Continuing from my previous post. [...]
April 7, 2009 at 10:29 pm
I kind of dig the F&F series, but Vin Diesel has to be one of the worst actors not named Keanu.
April 7, 2009 at 10:39 pm
Vin Diesel doesn’t take himself as seriously as Keanu Reeves has over the years. In time, Keanu may attain cult/camp iconic status, but his forays into “serious” acting tend to be for naught?
Vin Diesel & Jason Statham both strike me as guys who’ll be in the same film over and over again just so they can say some cool one-liners or do some crazy stunts. They’d like to be able to have some fun while filming–work with certain cast or crew.
Keanu, try as he might, he can’t shake that delivery style. My Own Private Idaho is probably the exception.
April 10, 2009 at 5:06 am
I love 2 Fast… best comedy ever. I was hoping for a reunion of Walker and Tyrese. Comedy gold.
I too saw the new one the other day. Better than the first (which isn’t hard) but nowhere near 2 Fast.
April 11, 2009 at 6:07 am
Despite myself, I really like Jason Statham in The Transporter films..great escapist nonsense!
April 11, 2009 at 2:21 pm
Aha! I finally found the reply-to-a-comment button.
So, if it were Vin Diesel from Fast & Furious, Jason Statham as The Transporter, and maybe Daniel Craig as James Bond, who would win the badass car race through busy city streets?
April 12, 2009 at 9:08 am
Probably Statham, but I wouldn’t buy a used car from him….