Vin Diesel fuels "Furious 4" comeback
Issue date: 4/5/09 Section: FYI
"When the GPS system calls, you follow." Universal pictures started the profitable franchise The Fast & The Furious back in 2001. This speedy-paced car-driven movie centered around two diametrically opposed characters: Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel), a multiracial driver who is part of an L.A. street racer gang involved in hijacking, and Brian O'Connor (Paul Walker), a white undercover cop who befriends him.
Umpteen adrenalin-pumping car chases, illegal races and crime sprees later Toretto is on the lam in Mexico, separated from his hard-driving girlfriend Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) and O'Connor has romanced Toretto's sister Mia (Jordana Brewster). This initial movie earned $144 million at the box office.
The sequel, 2 Fast 2 Furious, starred Walker and Tyrese was directed by John Singleton and earned $127 million. Chapter 3, The Fast And The Furious: Tokyo Drift featured Lucas Black and was directed by Taiwanese born filmmaker Justin Lin who had a kinetic style; it made $62 million. Considering the lineage and the decreasing box office, pumping new life into the series before it crashed seemed paramount. But how? Simple, bring the best elements back together.
These days Dominic Toretto and his girlfriend Letty hijack oil tankers from hapless truck drivers in the Dominican Republic. The law still hunts him, and seemingly nothing will drag him back to the states. Until one day, something bad happens to Letty. Toretto returns to the City of Angles to track down the devil who messed with his girl.
Of course he encounters O'Connor, who pursues the same villain; the cop's investigation takes him back to Mia, begging her to forgive his deception.
This time the crime spree involves smuggling heroin from Mexico through secret tunnels into the U.S. Toretto and O'Connor insinuate themselves into a deadly gang that uses fast car drivers to traffic the drugs. Can they trust each other? Can they find the crime lord, Letty's nemesis? They've got 107 minutes to do just that. Buckle your seat belts...
Umpteen adrenalin-pumping car chases, illegal races and crime sprees later Toretto is on the lam in Mexico, separated from his hard-driving girlfriend Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) and O'Connor has romanced Toretto's sister Mia (Jordana Brewster). This initial movie earned $144 million at the box office.
The sequel, 2 Fast 2 Furious, starred Walker and Tyrese was directed by John Singleton and earned $127 million. Chapter 3, The Fast And The Furious: Tokyo Drift featured Lucas Black and was directed by Taiwanese born filmmaker Justin Lin who had a kinetic style; it made $62 million. Considering the lineage and the decreasing box office, pumping new life into the series before it crashed seemed paramount. But how? Simple, bring the best elements back together.
These days Dominic Toretto and his girlfriend Letty hijack oil tankers from hapless truck drivers in the Dominican Republic. The law still hunts him, and seemingly nothing will drag him back to the states. Until one day, something bad happens to Letty. Toretto returns to the City of Angles to track down the devil who messed with his girl.
Of course he encounters O'Connor, who pursues the same villain; the cop's investigation takes him back to Mia, begging her to forgive his deception.
This time the crime spree involves smuggling heroin from Mexico through secret tunnels into the U.S. Toretto and O'Connor insinuate themselves into a deadly gang that uses fast car drivers to traffic the drugs. Can they trust each other? Can they find the crime lord, Letty's nemesis? They've got 107 minutes to do just that. Buckle your seat belts...
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