This semi-regular column is written (in his own blood) by an automotive sage and noted malcontent, known as The Mechanic. Mercilessly beaten as a child with rolled-up back issues of old car magazines, our free-spoken hero developed a unique "for your own good" take on cars and the auto industry, along with an unfortunate habit of setting himself ablaze. Later, after a distinguished career as an automotive journalist and magazine editor, he cast off the reins of his musty oppressors, carved out his superego with a plastic spork and became The Mechanic.
Last night I got a phone call from a friend who had just been invited by his friend to be a guest at an early screening of the movie Fast & Furious in Hollywood. Essentially The Fast and the Furious 4, the film is the latest in the F&F series, and it opens nationwide April 3rd. He was excited and thought I'd want to know about the movie.
I did, of course. I had seen the first three Fast and Furious films, but not this new one. I had only seen the trailers on www.fastandfuriousmovie.net and the big Super Bowl commercial. I wanted to know everything.
Here's what he had to say (spoiler alert for those who actually care about the plot).
"They said it was a rough cut, and that some of the music and scenes weren't finished. And you could tell. There were no credits at the end and parts of the big opening action scene looked cartoonish. It was obviously still in need of some finishing touches.
"It's a fun ride. More of a cop movie than a real car or street racing movie, but it has some great action scenes. I enjoyed it.
"There was maybe a little too much computer graphics instead of real car stunts, but there was some good real stuff, too. Some jumps, a big burnout and a big multicar race about an hour in that included one wheelie and more than a few powerslides. There's quite a bit of high-speed driving through a tunnel that's supposed to cross the U.S. Mexico border, and it's obviously computer-generated for the most part. Maybe it'll look a little better when the movie is actually finished.
"There was some stupid stuff, too, like saying a car runs on nitrometh. Reminded me of the whole NOS thing from the first movie but even dumber. Also, at the end, the F-Bomb Camaro from Hot Rod magazine does a wheelie on dirt, and at one point an R34 Skyline does a big standing burnout. Looked cool, but all-wheel drive, hello? I'm sure if I watched it again I could find more car stuff to complain about.
"Tons of hot chicks. Tons. And a surprising amount of lesbianism, including more than one girl-on-girl kissing and touching scenes. There was even a weird foot-licking fetish moment. Don't take the kids.
"Coolest car in the movie was a Lamborghini LM002 from the '80s. Other noteworthy rides are an R34 Skyline, a Buick GNX, an S15 Silvia, the black blown 1970 Charger and a pretty cool 1970 SS Chevelle.
"Believe it or not it takes place in the Dominican Republic, Panama, Mexico and Los Angeles. No I'm not kidding. And Paul Walker's character Brian O'Conner is now an FBI agent. No, I'm not kidding. The girlfriend of Vin Diesel's character Dom Toretto is killed and the entire movie is essentially his quest for vengeance. Of course it turns out that Toretto's girl was killed by Fenix Rise, the Gran Torino driving henchman for Antonio Braga, the same druglord that FBI agent O'Conner is after. I know, dumb, but it works.
"The crowd of about 260 people in the theatre applauded at the end.
"There's a big action sequence at the beginning which includes another crazy truck hijacking sequence. You know, like in the first movie, but this one is better. Then there's the big car race about an hour in and another even bigger chase at the end. In between is a lot of melodrama, a sort of love story between O'Conner and Toretto's sister, again a connection to the first movie, and a few too many scenes in the FBI office.
"Although there are plenty of connections and references to the first Fast and Furious movie, the only acknowledgment of the other two is the return of Toretto's friend Han, who was a major player in the third film Tokyo Drift, and appears in the opening scenes of this film. Remember he was killed in that movie, so this is sort of a flashback, prequel kind of thing.
"Torreto drove so many cars it was hard to count. Hang on, I'll try to name then all; there was the GNX, a red Chevelle, a primered Chevelle, the black Charger and new Subaru STI, which was modified. I think that's it. No, wait. At the very end he drives the green F-Bomb 1971 Camaro.
"At least it wasn't a rolling ad for a car company like it looks like Transformers 2 is. Even the second Fast and Furious was an ad for Mitsubishi. But this one doesn't seem to have any product placements. In fact, there were far more old cars in it than new ones.
"I liked it. I think it's going to be a big hit." -- The Mechanic, Inside Line Contributor
E-mail me at themechanic@edmunds.com
eclip5e says:
12:02 PM, 02/13/09
"Go for the movie, stay for the parking lot races, crashes and subsequent arrests."
The trailer made the film look exceeding fake. 180-degree spins to dropping trailer hitches dead-onto ball joints, driving cars underneath flipping gas tankers. Physics students need not apply.
dougtheeng says:
12:54 PM, 02/13/09
I stopped after the first one. It hurt my mind too much.
mazdaspeed_jon says:
01:17 PM, 02/13/09
"at one point an R34 Skyline does a big standing burnout. Looked cool, but all-wheel drive, hello?"
There have been many R34 GT-R's converted to Rear Wheel Drive and there were versions powered by the RB25DET (instead of the GT-R's RB26DETT) that were RWD.
mazdaspeed_jon says:
01:18 PM, 02/13/09
"Although there are plenty of connections and references to the first Fast and Furious movie, the only acknowledgment of the other two is the return of Toretto's friend Han, who was a major player in the third film Tokyo Drift, and appears in the opening scenes of this film. Remember he was killed in that movie, so this is sort of a flashback, prequel kind of thing."
I believe this story is supposed to take place between the first and second movies. So I guess this makes it F&F 1.5 or something. haha.
tyndago says:
02:10 PM, 02/13/09
You can do a burnout in an R34 . Its not that hard. I actually showed the movie guys how to do it in real life.
http://rbmotorsports.blogspot.com/2009/02/r34-gt-r-burnout.html
carlisimo says:
04:30 PM, 02/13/09
Tyndago has settled the argument, but do we know for sure it was a GT-R? The Skyline GT-ST was powerful and RWD.
Pity about the CG, especially after the great use of well known drifters for the last movie (which I thought was pretty decent). Like the first, the third movie had at least a little bit to do with car enthusiasts. This one sounds like it'll be more like the second, which was total garbage with nice eye candy, but that's what most action movies are anyway.
Thanks for the sneak peak!
kurtamaxxxguy says:
09:58 PM, 02/13/09
Thanks to the evolution and growing popularity of videogames, the trend for CGI in films continues, improves and expands every year.
Perhaps "FastAndFuriousFantasy4" is more appropriate a title?
In any event, The Mechanic should have lots of company when FAF4 rolls out.
tyndago says:
07:57 AM, 02/14/09
Carlisimo . I worked on the movie a little here and there. I have seen at least all the early "chase" and car related scenes. There was one R34 GT-R , and about 5 R34 GTS. They also used a 240SX buck for the up close interior shots.
Up on the parking garage, one of the nights, they called me up to come in and have a look at the car
http://www.gtrusablog.com/2009/02/cars-of-fast-and-furious.html
smilez says:
11:38 AM, 02/14/09
My fascination with THE MECHANIC continues...
"Here's what he had to say (spoiler alert for those who actually care about the plot)."
Then after the last quote, you put your sign-off, like you wrote the whole thing.
So you've realised you can't put out a good article, so you transcript everything a friend said...without cleaning it up.
Awesome journalism as always!
carswapper says:
02:46 PM, 02/14/09
smilez....lol
banhugh says:
03:01 PM, 02/14/09
What smilez said...
Also the "mechanic" has been exposed too much to "low IQ required" car movies such as 2Fast2Furius I, II, III, IV...
objectiveview says:
06:59 PM, 02/14/09
What the hell man!?!?!? Soiler warning maybe? Jeez.
It might be just F&F, but none the less .....
objectiveview says:
07:01 PM, 02/14/09
@Mazdaspeed_john
what would be the point when there where many an R32, 32 & 34 GTS-T that came rwd with the RB25?
ronvpr says:
09:41 AM, 02/15/09
It sounds like less Asian brands vehicles then previous ones. It will make for a better and more accepted movie in this country the way things are going with the industry here. I know I will not have to be reminded of my wifes Honda that needs a new trans after 8k miles. Or my son won't have to be reminded that his new Tundra broke his camshaft, u-joints, and warped its rotors after the first month of ownership. Call me bias? Sure. Who do you think has to argue with the idiots behind the counter and the half wit monkey mechanics at the Honda and Toyota dealerships? Not them. ME!
banhugh says:
11:12 AM, 02/15/09
ronvpr, your son must have had some really good fun with the truck!
compliance says:
09:09 AM, 02/16/09
I'm sad these dumb movies appeal to enthusiasts. It's pandering at its worst, and they don't even bother to fact check it. Why would anyone want to see CG car chases?
I don't get it.
vt8919 says:
01:09 PM, 02/16/09
What amazed me with the first two movies was that inside the car it looked like they were going incredibly fast with all the shaking and sweating, and then when they'd cut to the outside of the car the vehicle itself looked like it was only going 40, 45 MPH max.
alifya says:
03:12 PM, 02/16/09
@banhugh
You didn't even spell "Furious" right. C'mon.
nwng says:
08:12 AM, 02/17/09
you know f&f is for the car modding guys. if you like to see good stunt driving w/o a lot of cgi and make believe, all three bourne movies have pretty good car chase scenes. the first transporter movie is also good, it showed you how to throw a 7 series around. Ronin was also quite good.
smilez says:
02:38 PM, 02/17/09
Add to that the Original "The Italian Job" and of course nothing, and I mean nothing beats the chase scene in The Blues Brothers.
youdontknowjac says:
12:01 PM, 04/ 3/09
so how much did they pay you to write this 'secondhand' review?