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FAST & FURIOUSMovie Reviews
Action thriller follows the original team dedicated to chasing muscle, tuner and exotic cars across Los Angeles and through the Mexican desert. Cast:Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Michelle Rodriguez, Jordana Brewster, John Ortiz, Laz AlonsoDirector:Justin LinRelease Date:April 3, 2009DVD Release:July 28, 2009From:UniversalRating:PG-13Length:1 hr 47 min
Fast & Furious played to fair reviews. • Christy Lemire wrote for Associated Press, "Noise, noise. Crunched metal and shattered glass. More noise. Revving engines. Vin Diesel's giant head. Hot chicks in tight miniskirts." • And Andrew Dowler wrote in Toronto Now, "...a perfectly adequate actioner when it pumps out the set pieces and a flabby bore when it tries to deal with plot and characters." More Reviews Below...
Fast & Furious Positive Reviews (36 Reviews, reviews below)
Leah Rozen, People: MODERATE(cg) "...pure car porn, loaded with scenes of crazed but skilled driving, vehicles crashing and adoring close-ups of gauges gleaming on the dashboard."(See all of Leah Rozen's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 163 words, 04/02/09
Richard Corliss, Time: GOOD "...machismo with a stick shift. The guys are all members of a stud fraternity, a penile colony.... Diesel doesn't get mad; he stays cooler than cool. The guy's an icebox."(See all of Richard Corliss's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 958 words, 04/03/09
Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly: EXCELLENT(cg) "...perfectly aware of its limited dramatic mission... offers an attractive getaway route from self-importance, snark, and chatty comedies about male bonding."(See all of Lisa Schwarzbaum's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 360 words, 04/03/09
Christy Lemire, Associated Press: WEAK(cg) "Noise, noise. Crunched metal and shattered glass. More noise. Revving engines. Vin Diesel's giant head. Hot chicks in tight miniskirts. Even more noise. The end."(See all of Christy Lemire's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 570 words, 04/02/09
Thelma Adams, Us Weekly: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...far-fetched... feels produced largely for testosterone-fueled car junkies. Plus, gorgeous Jordana Brewster gets too little screen-time as Brian's wary ex."(See all of Thelma Adams's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 73 words, 04/02/09
Claudia Puig, USA Today: WEAK(cg) "Why bother writing dialogue at all? With the exception of inadvertent comedy and a funny line about hybrid cars, the movie is humorless."(See all of Claudia Puig's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 444 words, 04/03/09
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NEW YORK/LOS ANGELES/CHICAGO/TORONTO (11 Reviews)
Nathan Lee, New York Times: POOR "...the script (by Chris Morgan) is primitive at best, while the direction (by Justin Lin) is more or less functional. Less, in fact, would have been more..."(See all of Nathan Lee's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 279 words, 04/03/09
Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News: WEAK(cg) "...none of the actors manages to generate any actual human emotion, whether they're supposed to be funny or furious. But the racing scenes are still satisfyingly fast..."(See all of Elizabeth Weitzman's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 394 words, 04/03/09
Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times/Chicago Tribune: GOOD (NOT GREAT) "...if you're in the mood for a lot of vroom, vroom, thump, thump, then this should leave you exhausted and satiated for a very long time."(See all of Betsy Sharkey's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 865 words, 04/03/09
Lou Lumenick, New York Post: POOR(cg) "The stars look bored out of their minds when the fourth episode of the franchise stalls between racing sequences, which is all too often... feels like at least four hours."(See all of Lou Lumenick's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 378 words, 04/03/09
Rafer Guzman, New York Newsday: MODERATE(cg) "...candy-colored automobiles, digital dashboards and automated female voices.... The pinnacle of cool is still the nitrous tank, which thrusts the cars into paved hyperspace."(See all of Rafer Guzman's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 342 words, 04/03/09
Stephen Cole, Toronto Globe & Mail: MODERATE(cg) "Vin Diesel's mumbling sulk gets to be a drag after a while. Action heroes should be prepared to lift their tongue to the roof of their mouth when they talk."(See all of Stephen Cole's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 548 words, 04/03/09
Nicolas Rapold, Village Voice/LA Weekly: POOR "...notably slack... incidental beatdowns are often more exciting than the flaunting of reinforced-steel nerves during cruddily shot speed-racing."(See all of Nicolas Rapold's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 599 words, 04/01/09
Desson Thomson, Washington Post: EXCELLENT(cg) "Part of the thrill is our inviolate confidence that these stars aren't going to die. We know they're as safe behind the wheel as we would be playing the video-game version."(See all of Desson Thomson's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 671 words, 04/03/09
Chris Garcia, Atlanta Journal-Constitution: WEAK(cg) "The cars, with all their extravagant gear, are too otherworldly to be cool like the wheels in earthier car pictures such as 'Two-Lane Blacktop' and 'Vanishing Point.' "(See all of Chris Garcia's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 719 words, 04/03/09
Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: MODERATE(cg) "...director Justin Lin only once shows he has any conception of what to do with Diesel.... A revenge plot is a sure way to sap the energy out of any protagonist."(See all of Mick LaSalle's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 717 words, 04/03/09
David Hiltbrand, Philadelphia Inquirer: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...supercharged in a style that recalls Mel Gibson's apocalyptic classic, 'The Road Warrior.' The characters are more than cartoonish, and the plot grips the road."(See all of David Hiltbrand's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 426 words, 04/03/09
Wesley Morris, Boston Globe: MODERATE(cg) "...the franchise has nothing new to offer. The culture, through video games and reality television, has caught up to the series and surpassed it."(See all of Wesley Morris's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 466 words, 04/03/09
Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star-Tribune: POOR(cg) "...feels assembled from stock components. Everything that happens here happened in the three previous chapters -- and in 'Cannonball Run,' for that matter."(See all of Colin Covert's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 413 words, 04/03/09
Ted Fry, Seattle Times: POOR(cg) "...agonizing dialogue, shoddy mechanics and a script that alternates between incomprehensible action sequences and tedious breakdowns into numbing melodrama."(See all of Ted Fry's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 511 words, 04/03/09
Mike Russell, Portland Oregonian: MODERATE(cg) "...serviceable... this will personally go down as the flick that really made me realize how much I hate CGI stunts.... The tension's gone. I feel a loss."(See all of Mike Russell's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 241 words, 04/03/09
Calvin Wilson, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: MODERATE(cg) "Diesel is still charismatic thug Dominic Toretto, Walker is still determined cop Brian O'Conner, and the story is still dumb.... mostly settles for action-flick clichés."(See all of Calvin Wilson's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 323 words, 04/03/09
Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel: WEAK(cg) "...tepid, repetitive and digitally augmented... probably won't give Vin Diesel and Paul Walker the career boost that 'The Fast and the Furious' did."(See all of Roger Moore's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 483 words, 04/02/09
Michael Sragow, Baltimore Sun: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...relentless fuel-injected stunts and the equally relentless Diesel turns pummeling. But I hope the producers bring Lin back for the fifth film and strip it down even more."(See all of Michael Sragow's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 829 words, 04/03/09
ALTERNATIVE/INDIE PRESS (6 Reviews)
Nicolas Rapold, Village Voice/LA Weekly: POOR "...notably slack... incidental beatdowns are often more exciting than the flaunting of reinforced-steel nerves during cruddily shot speed-racing."(See all of Nicolas Rapold's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 599 words, 04/01/09
Tom Meek, Boston Phoenix: MODERATE(cg) "The gaseous exposition in the middle breaks down. Director Justin Lin should have heeded his film's title and just punched it."(See all of Tom Meek's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 160 words, 04/09/09
Nathan Lee, New York Times: POOR "...the script (by Chris Morgan) is primitive at best, while the direction (by Justin Lin) is more or less functional. Less, in fact, would have been more..."(See all of Nathan Lee's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 279 words, 04/03/09
Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: GOOD (NOT GREAT) "...if you're in the mood for a lot of vroom, vroom, thump, thump, then this should leave you exhausted and satiated for a very long time."(See all of Betsy Sharkey's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 865 words, 04/03/09
MOVIE INDUSTRY (4 Reviews)
Todd McCarthy, Daily Variety: POOR "...all hollow posturing and indiscriminate action cut in incoherent 'Quantum of Solace' fashion.... by far the weakest entry of the four."(See all of Todd McCarthy's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 836 words, 04/02/09
Kirk Honeycutt, Hollywood Reporter: VERY GOOD "The illegal auto race series gets its mojo back by reuniting much of the original cast back in SoCal for some fancy car stunts."(See all of Kirk Honeycutt's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 675 words, 04/03/09
Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: GOOD (NOT GREAT) "...if you're in the mood for a lot of vroom, vroom, thump, thump, then this should leave you exhausted and satiated for a very long time."(See all of Betsy Sharkey's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 865 words, 04/03/09
Nathan Lee, New York Times: POOR "...the script (by Chris Morgan) is primitive at best, while the direction (by Justin Lin) is more or less functional. Less, in fact, would have been more..."(See all of Nathan Lee's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 279 words, 04/03/09
20.1 Percentage Points Average Difference Between Reviews (Norm is 18.4pp; <18.4pp = More Consistent; >18.4pp = More Mixed)
Fast & Furious's reviews are separated by an average 20.1 percentage points. The norm for this measure is 18.4 percentage points. Less than 18.4 indicates more consistent reviews; greater than 18.4 indicates more mixed reviews. In the chart below, each dot represents a review, with the dots at the top more positive than the dots at the bottom. From left to right, the dots represent reviews in big, bigger and biggest publications. Roll over each dot for more detail.
Fast & Furious (36 reviews) Roll over dots for each review
Coverage:Fast & Furious's reviews cover 77.8% of potential readers (average is 67.9%). Volume:The film's reviews total 17,865 words involume (average is 20,194 words). Length:The film's reviews average 496 words in length (the norm is 517 words).
Reviews Broke 7.2 Hours Before Release (Norm is 1.2 Release)
Fast & Furious's reviews on average broke 7.2 hours before opening. Norm for this measure is 1.2 hours before. The chart below shows reviews on opening day and the days before and after opening; the left side is earlier and the right side is later. The red bars extending above the horizontal mid-line represent more positive reviews, and the red bars extending below represent more negative reviews. The white space/red bar in the middle is Fast & Furious's opening day. Click on any bar for a list of the reviews for that day.
Fast & Furious (36 reviews, click on bars for reviews)
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