Fast & Furious

You can tell that 8 years separate "The Fast & The Furious" from this fourth installment in the franchise. I mean that in the best way. The series is maturing, figuring out where it needs to go. It's not quite there yet, the idiotic title of "Fast & Furious" makes that clear. But there’s hope. If you thought the bone-headed decisions in the previous film meant the franchise was doomed, you'd be wrong.

When a tragedy hits both Brian (Paul Walker) and Dom (Vin Diesel), the former friends turned adversaries find themselves allied against a common enemy. But can the street-racing outlaw forgive the FBI agent’s previous betrayal? Can the fed stave off the lure of the life he just barely left behind?

Ah yes. This is better. I love it when a franchise learns and grows over time. The fast cars, the hot babes, and the stunts were integral parts of what made the first film a success, but without the characters, it wouldn't have amounted to much. There are some bad decisions made with Michelle Rodriguez 's Letty (really bad) and a missed opportunity by excluding both Tyrese Gibson and Ludacris from the film (to be fair it might've been hard to bring them in considering Brian's 180) Otherwise, this is the sequel we've been missing. Not only that, it's the logical next step in the series. You’ve still got everything that was there before, now it’s just fiddling with the knobs, trying to get the balance just right and mostly, it's successful.

This story features a nice amount of moments exploring the relationship between Brian and Dom - be they at odds or not. You will also find a good number of fast-paced, exciting and appropriately ridiculous chases and races. The villain introduced here? He’s not really that interesting, I suppose he’s alright. The boys, their cars and the scenes where they're racing are the stars. There are also some neat additions to the franchise (I’m intrigued to see what they’ll do with Gal Gadot, now better know as DC’s Wonder Woman) Not without its flaws, the film nonetheless succeeds thanks to its conclusion. There's something to be said about how it contrasts what happened in 2001.

After a couple of rough entries, “The Fast & the Furious” is beginning to emerge from its cocoon. I’ve seen some of what comes next and I know it’ll be a force to be reckoned with. Would the film be as enjoyable as it is without this future knowledge? It’s hard to say. The film is only ok on its own, but trust me, it’s worth sitting through in order to get to what’s coming up next. I’m excited for “Fast Five”. (On Blu-ray, April 2, 2017)