“Fast & Furious” is a Movie

They made a 4th film in this franchise.

Friendship break-ups are rough. Our culture does not prepare us for the idea that a platonic union could dissolve with as much heartbreak, acrimony, and pain as found in the turbulent end of a romance. But all things pass, and eventually there is room for healing, even if you are a shitty cop who becomes a truly terrible FBI agent who definitely should not be assigned to any cases at all, especially those involving the love of your life, a masterful car thief who looks and sounds a lot like Vin Diesel.

I will watch anything made by director Justin Lin, but I am well aware that big films like this are done by committee, and that a director rarely has total control over the outcome. None of what I have to say about Fast & Furious should be taken as critique of Justin Lin, whom I believe should just get to do whatever he wants with no notes.

They say that if we ever remembered the true pain of labor and delivery, we’d never have a child again. And while it isn’t taint-rippingly bad, I remember very little about the fourth installment in the Fast and Furious universe, although I do recall that it is set five years after the events of the first film, The Fast and the Furious, but before the events of the third film, Tokyo Drift. We get some backstory featuring a cameo by a not-yet-dead…