Fast & Furious (also known as Fast & Furious 4) is a 2009 American street racing action film directed by Justin Lin and written by Chris Morgan. It is the fourth installment of The Fast and the Furious franchise. The film stars Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Michelle Rodriguez, Jordana Brewster and John Ortiz.
The film serves as a connection from the the first film into a present day setting, with main members of the original cast reprising their roles. The film is chronologically set after the second installment 2 Fast 2 Furious (2003) and set before the third installment The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006). Originally released on April 3, 2009.
Plot
Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) is forced to come out of hiding when a loved one is brutally murdered. Heading to LA to track down the culprit, he crosses paths with Brian O'Connor (Paul Walker), the FBI agent whose undercover infiltration of Toretto's gang led to the motorised miscreant's exile across the border. The two men temporarily put their differences aside as they investigate the killing.
Cast
- Paul Walker as Brian O'Conner
- Vin Diesel as Dominic Toretto
- Michelle Rodríguez as Letty Ortiz
- Jordana Brewster as Mia Toretto
- John Ortiz as Arturo Braga / Ramon Campos
- Gal Gadot as Gisele Yashar
- Laz Alonso as Fenix Calderon
The central cast is rounded out by Sung Kang as Han Seoul-Oh, Dominic's right-hand man, while Puerto Rican singers Tego Calderón and Don Omar feature as Leo and Santos respectively, members of the oil heist team. Shea Whigham plays Brian's snarky colleague Michael Stasiak, and Liza Lapira portrays Sophie Trinh, an FBI agent who works closely with Brian. Jack Conley features as Penning, Brian's boss, and Ron Yuan acts as David Park, a scout of street racers for Braga. Greg Cipes, Neil Brown Jr., and Brandon T. Jackson play Dwight Mueller, Malik Herzon, and Alex, respectively, the other members of Braga's street racing team.
Reception
Critical response
Fast & Furious received mixed reviews from professional critics. The film is rated at 28% based on 173 reviews collected on the Rotten Tomatoes website and 45 on Metacritic based on 27 reviews.
Roger Ebert, who gave positive reviews to the previous films, gave an unfavorable review of the film, writing, "I admire the craft involved, but the movie leaves me profoundly indifferent. After three earlier movies in the series, which have been transmuted into video games, why do we need a fourth one? Oh. I just answered my own question." Ebert noted the story, dialogue and acting as perfunctory.
Box office
The film received negative reviews upon release, but was a box office success grossing $363 million worldwide, and spawned three sequels (Fast Five, Fast & Furious 6 and Furious 7).