(3.5 out of 5 stars)

Paul Walker returns as FBI agent Brian O’Connor, Vin Diesel returns as Dominique Torreto, Jordana Brewster again plays Dom’s sister (Brian’s ex) and Michelle Rodriguez plays Dom’s girlfriend and partner once again in what is easily a stand alone movie that does not require seeing any of the three previous movies. This movie basically takes established characters and creates a plot about them that happens to involve cars rather than cars being the stars of the movie. 

The stunts are spectacular, similar to the first movie in the series. The car chases are phenomenal. Sometimes the viewer actually wants to dodge with the characters as the chase scenes get more and more accelerated. The special effects also give the viewer that great action movie insanity that is preposterous, but highly entertaining.

The cars are much more subtle in this movie than any of the other three. There are car races and there are car chases, but no extremely flashy cars. The cars are still fast, but as the modified era is not as exciting in the public eye, they instead choose to use muscle cars and less flashy sports cars.

The plot is also well groomed about an agent tracking a drug trafficker and Dom seeking revenge to that trafficker, which puts the two back together again ultimately working together to take down the drug lord. Who knew that the fourth movie in a series (which in reality isn’t a series since none of the movies really connect to the other) could be just as fast and furious as the first and in the end actually maybe even better?

Suggested similar recommendations: The Fast and the Furious