The Fast And The Furious (2001)

Point Break with flashy car races - that's all The Fast And The Furious is, but that's all it needs to be. It's a lot of brainless fun with a lot of very good looking cars on screen for most of its duration. There's also a lot of turn of the century CGI working to make the speedy sequences seem speedier and the car engine parts sometimes visible when drivers push the button for an essential NOS boost.

Paul Walker plays Brian, an undercover cop trying to get into the street racing circuit to find out just who is responsible for a number of daring heists on moving trucks (trucks that are moving, not trucks being used by removal companies). The prime suspect is Dominic Toretto, played by Vin Diesel, who is the centre of the street racing scene and the man that most of the main players look up to. But Brian gets close, too close. He likes Dom's sister, Mia (Jordana Brewster), and gets to like Dom as he gets closer to cracking the case.

Rob Cohen directs with aptitude and certainly knows that, whenever possible, the car is the star here. The script, written by Gary Scott Thompson, Erik Bergquist, and David Ayer, is full of nonsense that builds into a creed these racers live by, but it gets the plot from A to B to Z, and has occasional moments of wit in there.

The cast all do what they have to. Paul Walker is likeable enough in the main role, Vin Diesel is a big man who growls a lot, Jordana Brewster looks pretty, Michelle Rodriguez does that scowl-gurn thing as the tough woman once again. There's also Rick Yune, Chad Lindberg, the great Ted Levine, Ja Rule, Noel Gugliemi (you may not recognise the name, but you'll know his face) and Matt Schulze (playing a douchebag who also happens to be the one person that is right about the character played by Walker).

Unsurprisingly, the soundtrack features a mix of loud rock and dance/hip-hop tunes with a strong bassline. It's what you'd expect for a movie about cars with stereo systems that cost more than most people's first runaround. What is surprising is how bad some of the processed shots are with some of the driving scenes akin to something from the 1950s. But, of course, you're not supposed to be looking out of the windows, you're supposed to be looking at the attractive stars and their attractive cars.

It's good fun, there are some enjoyable race sequences and good stuntwork on display, and, as I'm not a "gearhead", I'd say you can add an extra point if you're REALLY into cars. The best is yet to come though, and this should be viewed as the starting point for a franchise that would go from strength to strength (even the weaker instalments don't stop it from easily being the best movie series built around Vin Diesel).

7/10

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Extract (2009)

Another enjoyable comedy written and directed by Mike Judge, this may be his weakest film to date but it's still a fun viewing experience thanks to a great cast working with a great script.

Jason Bateman plays Joel, the owner/manager of an Extract plant. All is going pretty well for Joel apart from the fact that he can't seem to get home before eight o'clock, which is the time that his wife (Kristen Wiig) puts her sweatpants on. Once the sweatpants are on, Joel gets nothing and he's a bit frustrated by his lack of sex life. When a work-related accident leads to loyal worker Step (Clifton Collins Jr.) losing one of his testicles, Joel finds himself the unwitting payday opportunity for Cindy (Mila Kunis), a thief who realises that she can engineer a meeting with Step before manipulating him into suing the company for more money. Meanwhile, Joel also makes the mistake of following the advice of his friend Dean (Ben Affleck) and hiring someone to seduce his wife, supposedly leaving his conscience clear to begin his own affair.

It may not be as brilliantly wired into the consciousness of all working Joes (a la Office Space) or full of the easy, big laughs of Idiocracy but this still deserves to be appreciated by anyone after comedy that aims higher than most.

Judge is a great talent behind the camera. There may not be too many tricks and flourishes onscreen but he does what's needed to keep things moving along and set up every scene full of that memorable dialogue.

Bateman is good in the main role, playing the kind of role that he can play in his sleep, and Kunis is believably cute and charming. It's easy to imagine her getting away with just what she gets away with. Wiig is also very good in an atypical role, as is Ben Affleck, playing someone slightly addled from a life centred around far too many drugs. Clifton Collins Jr. is a sweet enough "mark" and there is good support from J. K. Simmons, T. J. Miller, Betsy Palmer, Gene Simmons, David Koechner (also in a slightly atypical role, as a persistent and dull neighbour) and Matt Schulze.

All in all, Extract is well worth your time. By the time the end credits roll, there's nothing major to mull over but it's simply a nice, consistently amusing, character piece that won't disappoint.

7/10

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Out Of Reach (2004)

There are very few things that surprise me, in terms of just what I can tolerate inthe world of the movies. There are even fewer things that surprise me as I wind my way through the murky filmography of Steven Seagal, a prime example of a career that had a definite high point and then self-imploded to such a degree that almost every film from 2001 onwards has provided what can only be described as "that car crash sensation". You know that it's going to be horrid but you can't help having a look as you pass it by.

By 2004 I wouldn't be surprised if Seagal somehow placed himself in a movie that celebrated his presence on our planet as the second coming. He looks after the young and the vulnerable, loves animals, can always do everything ever needed in any situation and seems to be indestructible. All tension is gone as we watch a movie that serves no other purpose than massaging the ego of Steven Seagal. The guy can't even be bothered to do his own ADR at this point (an audio "nuance" that occurs in many of his 21st century outings).

So here is the plot, try not to laugh. Seagal has, somehow, befriended a young girl who lives in an orphanage. They exchange letters and wishes of wellbeing and Seagal even helps the young girl to learn numerous codes so that they can give each other secret messages. Are you getting creeped out yet? To be fair, this is all depicted as a very innocent relationship and it's clear that all Seagal wants to do is help provide some happiness to every single child in the world. This becomes a bit more difficult when his young friend is taken away from the orphanage and offered to a number of internet bidders as part of some large human trafficking ring.

The script here is by Trevor Miller and James Townsend and I certainly won't be looking for their names on any other movies I seek out. It's almost as if they just looked at the last few Seagal movies and went by a template that desperately needs broken and recast.

Director Po-Chih Leong does nothing to excite viewers. The pacing isn't too bad but there just isn't enough to care about in between the few action beats. Worst of all, a lot of the work is sloppy and doesn't show that the movie had a reasonable budget.

Do I need to mention the cast? Seagal is worse than usual and he's surrounded by a cast made up of mostly Polish performers who, I imagine, cost a lot less money than people with actual acting skills. I actually felt sorry for Matt Schulze (an actor I have enjoyed in a number of entertaining franchises including Blade, The Fast & The Furious and The Transporter) but I hope he at least managed to get a decent pay packet for some minimal effort. Because that's obviously all that Seagal was after.

3/10.

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