Weapon X and a Half Gets FAST & FURIOUS!!

Merrick here...
...with a look at FAST & FURIOUS from an AICN reader named Weapon X and a Half. The film opens April 3. I rather enjoyed director Justin Lin's last FAST AND THE FURIOUS film (TOKYO DRIFT) and I've been looking forward to seeing what Justin does with the reassembled/original cast. I recently got word that a change in screening policies at Universal means that not all Uni films will be screened for press/media (at least in certain regions). F&F, unfortunately, falls into my region's dark zone...which means I won't be getting an early look at the film like I'd anticipated. (insert waaaahhh waaaahhh here) I'm told Universal's new policy is the result of economic/logistical considerations & has nothing to do with the quality of the films themselves. I guess we'll see about that.
Here's Weapon X and a Half...

Weapon X and a Half here! Ok so the first review I sent you was for that godawful upcoming Eddie Murphy movie, A Thousand Words, a few weeks back. I'm happy to report that this time around, I'll be reviewing a much more fun assignment: Fast and Furious. I had the opportunity to see this on Monday at the Arclight in Hollywood. Let me start off by saying the only really decent movie I've seen in the franchise was the first one. 2 Fast 2 Furious was 2 Stupid, and Tokyo Drift was also a waste of time (I mean, what's the point of a Fast and the Furious movie if it's signature character only makes a cameo). Well luckily, now there are two decent movies in this franchise (which I hope ends with the high note that is this film). So let's cut the bullshit. We all know this movie probably should have been made in 2003 (instead of 2 Fast), at the height of the popularity of the first film (from 2001). And we all know Vin Diesel didn't want to be type-cast as Dominic Toretto, but has since decided his career needs this franchise, which is the basic reason why this film ever got made almost 8 years after his character was introduced. However, I need to say, I'm glad this wasn't made immediately. If this sequel was made directly after the first movie, I'd imagine it'd have a shittier plotline to bring Brian O'Conner and Dominic Toretto together again--some hackneyed "Brian needs to team up with Dom to take down a drug dealer" bullcrap which provides a much weaker plotline than the first movie. Ok ok--that basically IS the premise of this film. But it gets a little bit more personal than that, which makes the overall story quite decent for a movie in this franchise. Allow me to explain using... HEAVY SPOILERS! Ok so the film begins with Dom and Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) in the Dominican Republic, hijacking huge tanks of gasoline with a crew that includes Han from Tokyo Drift (I did like that connection, btw). When they find out the cops are closing in on Dom, he decides to go on the run, and leaves Letty to keep her safe. Letty ends up going back to LA to stay with Mia (Jordana Brewster), but ends up getting murdered after getting involved with a hardcore, unseen heroine dealer named Braga. Dom is obviously tortured and pissed (Vin Diesel successfully playing a hybrid of Dominic Toretto and his character from A Man Apart) and vows to kill whoever murdered Letty. Meanwhile on the other side of town, Brian (who we find out is now a full-fledged FBI agent after the events of 2 Fast--Yes Paul Walker, the blond Keanu Reeves is an FBI agent) and his team of agents are narrowing their own by-the-book federal investigation of the Braga case. When he finds out Dom's in town, and thirsty for Braga's blood, a rivalry ensues over who'll get to Braga first. Of course the only way for either of them to infiltrate Braga's operation, and thus find Braga, is to be recruited for a high-stakes race through Koreatown, which they end up doing. END HEAVY SPOILERS Everything basically escalates from there, in typical good cop, bad "cop" after a bad-guy fashion. There are quite a few things to like about this movie. For one, this is probably the darkest and most personal entry in the franchise. For about 80% of the film, everything feels grittier and a little more hardcore. The sense of tension is deeper than anything we've generally seen in a Fast/Furious film. Also, some of the unforeseen twists (I say unforeseen because you wouldn't expect them from a Fast and the Furious movie, but they aren't entirely unpredictable in general), are pretty interesting: particularly a connection between Letty and Brian, and the overall revelation of Braga's character. These aren't deep twists, but they are somewhat engaging, and up the stakes of the overall storyline. The action sequences are fairly exciting as well. Even though you pretty much only get one overall race, it's a good one, and the fights are pretty bone-crunching badass (I personally liked the Vin Diesel vs Paul Walker sequence). BTW, Diesel is in top form for this, even if he's playing the typical tortured, hard-assed, "insert something monosyllabic and tough" dialog-fueled archetype that we're used to from him. I mean it's not The Pacifier at least. You definitely feel for his character, and Diesel's very comfortable returning to it, making him more tortured, but staying true to who he established the character as in 2001. And to elaborate on what I said before, the fact that the movie was only made now, as opposed to immediately after the first one, really genuinely is one of its strengths. The passage of time and distance between these characters is much more believable, as are their developments as well. For example, for the majority of the movie, Brian and Dom remain rivals first and foremost. They make sure to instill initial feelings of distrust for most of the film. It takes 2/3 of the movie for them to reconnect as partners, which is believable considering the characters' motivations, histories, and time apart. Bringing these characters together again should seem like a gimmick, but actually, and surprisingly, the whole thing goes over quite naturally, which is something I didn't expect at all. Now, what's not so good? One of my biggest complaints was how strong Dom's storyline is, but how weak Brian's is overall. He spends most of the movie wondering if he's a "good guy posing as a bad guy" or a "bad guy trying to be a good guy." We get an obvious answer to this at the end, but it's quite weak and uninteresting. You also get a really forced "rekindled romance" with Jordana Brewster's Mia, which isn't believable at all. For that matter, it brings me to another complaint. Mia's character doesn't have much to do in this film. She's got maybe 10-15 minutes of screen time, max, and none of those scenes are particularly pivotal. Michelle Rodriguez gets even less screen time, but of course, her character is incredibly crucial to the story. There's also a groan-inducing unbelievable scene where Dom essentially plays CSI to discover what happened to Letty. It's a little ridiculous considering that we know he's not Sherlock Holmes, and would most likely not be able to deduce every specific event that occurred the night of the murder, based on tire tracks, nitrous residue, and paint. And finally, the worst thing about the movie is that it collapses on itself in the final act. That's not to say the final act is horrible, but it's definitely much more campy and unbelievable, which is inconsistent from the enjoyably dark and gritty tone set by the rest of the movie. What do I mean? Well let's just say it involves a chase through desert canyons that double as secret passageways and tunnels for drug smuggling racers--in a James Bond villain/Wacky Races sort of way. Apparently you can convert a desert cliff into a garage that syncs up with your remote controlled car genie. Oh, and after Vin Diesel disposes of a villain, he has a one-liner catch phrase, which is somewhat badass, yet somewhat of a groaner. Overall though, the movie's pretty good. I'd give it a solid "B." Much better than 2 Fast, and Tokyo Drift. I'd go as far as to say that it even had the potential to be better than the first at some points, given a much more dark and personal storyline, but was eventually ruined by a ridiculous last act, and some weak plot points (again primarily concerning Brian). I'd say if you were following and enjoying the franchise so far, you definitely should be fairly pleased. 'til next time, Weapon X and a Half