Movie Review # 433: The Fast & The Furious 4 (2009)

Ladies & gentlemen, today, we talk about the fourth installment of the Fast & The Furious franchise. At this point, even though the first two films were either good, but not great, or just okay, it seems as if the sequels may be progressing for the better after the third film. Either way, let’s talk about The Fast & The Furious 4.

Plot: After Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) the girlfriend of Dominic (Vin Diesel) goes undercover in an attempt to clear Dominic’s criminal record, as well as winding up in trouble with a Mexican drug lord name Arturo Braga (John Ortiz), Brian O’ Connor, and Dominic must team up once again to try to track down Braga, and his thugs, and bring down their criminal car organization once and for all.

As you may recall in my reviews for the second, and third films, I mentioned that the first two basically weren’t necessarily bad, but could’ve been better, especially the second film. As for the third film, even if only one of the characters from the first two movies appears in there, that film was still an improvement from one, and two. That raises a question! Was the fourth film an improvement as well? Well, I’m relieved to tell you that it is. Part of why that is the case is because, well, when I saw the second film, and saw that Brian had a new temporary girlfriend from the first film, I was concerned. Now, now, I do understand that in the real world, romantic relationships do drift, and that breakups do happen sometimes. However, what concerned me, especially when watching the second movie, was the possibility that Brian O’ Connor was going to maybe be a womanizer like James Bond was in most of the 007 movie franchise. Well, in this case, however, the makers of this film chose not to go that route, but rather decided to rekindle Brian, and Mia Toretto’s relationship. Now that’s a better way to go! Not only that, but the rest of the characters, from Dom Toretto, and the other characters, old, or even new ones, are bright to a while new level. There’s more depth to the characters, you get to learn more about them, and, in the case of some of the characters, you get to hear more of their respective backgrounds. Sure, I’m sure one probably wouldn’t have minded if say that had been the case in one of the earlier films. Still, better late than never, right? Oh, and another thing! It’s great to see Fast & The Furious 4 tone down on the sensuality that was especially prevalent in the very first film of this film series. Yes, there is still some kf that there, but at least it doesn’t seem to be thrown in your face quite nearly as much. Anyway, the movie does a great job of showing how dangerous it is to be a thug, a drug cartel, and things like that. Oh, and another thing! The movie does a good job of showing how easy it is to get really angry at people who have either supposedly wronged you, or truly have wronged you.

Moments like that can also feel like a downside at the same time as well. It’s a downside because, well, as we know, there are kids younger than 13, who are most likely watching PG-13 rated movies like this as well. My guess is either kids who watch films like this one will either learn to not let themselves be easily angered when it’s easy to do so, or they may get the impression that movies like this one end up teaching then that it’s okay to be angry, and violent when tragedy strikes your life. Also, there were some newer characters that didn’t seem to get quite fleshed out enough, and could have maybe been a little better because of that.

And that’s my review for Fast & The Furious 4. I would say that if you wanted to see some kf these films, definitely see the third, and fourth films. Still, maybe see the first two as well, since they set up the story of those two. The characters are a more likable, and you understand their motivations more.

Final Grade: A-