Jokingly dubbed 4Fast 4Furious by a co-worker of mine, the flashy Fast & Furious is indeed the fourth in the series of testosterone-fueled action flicks featuring hot cars, hot women and no logic whatsoever. It’s just as idiotic as its predecessors but benefits big time from the return of original franchise star Vin Diesel.

He and co-star Paul Walker are reunited when a Latino heroin importer whom Walker wants to bust wastes someone near and dear to Diesel’s heart. This allows the at-odds duo to once again race around in fast cars, flout authority and spout faux-macho dialogue as they try to catch the guy.

None of it’s believable in the least, of course, especially the idea that the FBI, or any other U.S. government agency, would reinstate, much less employ, a strutting, fair-haired surfer boy like Walker, who sounds like Keanu Reeves when he talks. There’s also the seeming ease with which Diesel sneaks in and out of his sister’s (Paget Brewster) house while cops are supposedly watching the place.

The so-called script by Chris Morgan, who concocted the third film, also makes sure to feature such familiar franchise traits as race scenes where drivers yell at other drivers even though those drivers can’t hear them, a trip through a car’s exhaust system and wonderfully original dialogue like, “Hold on to something tight!” and “Only pussies run nitro-meth.”

Returning franchise director Justin Lin (Tokyo Drift) for sure is no John Singleton, who helmed the more entertaining second entry, but he’s certainly better than Rob Cohen and gives the action stuff here some punch. Best of all is the opening sequence in which Diesel and his crew, including Michelle Rodriguez, attempt to hijack some big-rig tanks of gasoline whilst traveling at, shall we say, unsafe speeds.

Lin never really tops that scene, though he comes close when Walker and Diesel enter a race to try to impress said drug importer with their driving skills. Diesel pops his muscle car onto two wheels and roars ahead in cool, muscular style as the other contestants crash, flip over other cars and fall off overpasses. It’s well-edited, exciting and sees Diesel confidently skidding to a stop.

The film also aims for some novelty by setting two chase scenes in mining tunnels, an idea that actually kind of works the first time you see it but becomes increasingly far-fetched during the second as expensive cars race along at impossible speeds and CGI boulders rain down. The latter scene, at least, ends in fist-pumping fashion when Diesel rams his car into a nasty, mohawk-sporting thug.

In fact, without Diesel, Fast & Furious would be just another action film. We’re not talking Oscar-worthy emoting or anything, but the man has a definite presence–in the way he moves, the way he holds himself, his intimidating rumble of a voice–that provides the film with what passes for gravitas.

And, yeah, the guy still convinces as an action hero. He shrugs off a bullet to the shoulder, holds a low-life out a window to make him talk and makes another guy spill by threatening him with a car engine. Most impressive, though, is how he delivers the laughable line, “I’m the kind of guy who appreciates a body regardless of the make,” to the villain’s hot henchwoman and makes it sound suave.

(A BIT OF TRIVIA: The movie actually takes place before Tokyo Drift, according to Lin on the DVD commentary and as evidenced by the brief appearance early on of Korean actor Sung Kang as Han. He played the same character in Drift, where the character was killed off. Kang also played a character named Han in 2002’s Better Off Tomorrow, which Lin also directed.) – [DVD]

Action/Crime/Drama/Thriller

Rated PG-13

DVD Release Date: 7/28/09

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