You might think
this is simply a tale of young men and fast cars. It's actually
a thriller on speed.
Nigel
Bell
This film has proved to be the surprise summer hit in the States.
Given the teenage/early 20s audience it's aiming for, it's likely
to repeat the success over here.
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Come on
boys it's only a little axle grease |
Not that this
is a great movie. It's a film which does what it sets out to and
on two particular occasions does it dazzling with genuine adrenaline
pumping scenes of high action/ sharp editing.
It's basically
a mix of Top Gear meets Rebel Without A Cause meets
Grease meets The Warriors.
Rookie cop Brian
(Walker) goes undercover to try and discover who is hijacking trucks
on the open highway.
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Oops |
It's a race
against time because the truckers are pretty fed up and about to
take matters into their own hands.
He hooks up
with Toretto (Vin Diesel - great name for this film) who's a bit
like the Fonz in the way that he's the idol of all the street kids
keen for a bit more action in their lives.
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Anyone
else laugh and I cut the brake leads |
He's king of
the illegal street racing circuit. He also has a sister whom Brian
falls for.
So the scene
is set for high speed races, gang warfare, jealousy, death and friendship.
It all works
in its limited way which includes rock and hip hop, limited dialogue
(imagine Kevin and Perry with US accents), meaningful glances, women
getting dirty (in their mechanics uniforms!) and perhaps most importantly,
how to put your shades on correctly.
A must for those
boy racers roaring around Mansfield town centre on a weekend. For
the rest of us, we've still got a few more weeks to be entertained
by Murray Walker.
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