Precursors: 2 Fast 2 Furious (2003)

Nick Schager — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 14:30:00 GMT

Apparently only good enough to warrant a pre-summer-season release, Fast and the Furious pulls into theaters this weekend with the reunited cast from 2001’s original. Re-pairing bald baritone Vin Diesel with Ken doll-handsome Paul Walker – as well as throwing Michelle Rodriguez and Jordana Brewster back into the mix – is supposed to be this fourth installment’s enticing calling card (ooooh, they’re kickin’ it old school!). Yet if the series was ever worthwhile, it wasn’t during Diesel and Walker’s maiden outing but, rather, during Walker’s turn alongside Diesel replacement Tyrese in John Singleton’s 2 Fast 2 Furious, an adventure whose gleeful inanity was perfectly encapsulated by its title. With a plot too perfunctory to have been remembered by yours truly, Singleton’s sequel amped up its predecessor’s template to ludicrous heights, which made perfect sense given that there’s nothing to these car-thieving, street-racing sagas save for their manic auto-erotic madness, comprised of screeching tires, bodalicious babes, periodic shootouts, and stunts, stunts, stunts. Whereas director Rob Cohen took his dim-witted material at least slightly seriously, Singleton makes no such mistake. While his entry won’t be making the cut for any AFI action-film lists, its consistent willingness to indulge in extremeness – from cars taking turbo-boosting flight, to the raft of groan-worthy one-liners spouted by Walker and Tyrese, to the neon-flashy aesthetic – turns the proceedings into a self-consciously goofy, tongue-in-cheek live-action Grand Theft Auto cartoon.

Movies We Missed: Transformers (2007)

Peter Smith — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 20:00:00 GMT

Wait a second, you say, what the hell do you mean a movie "we" missed? With box office tallies swelling to over $700M worldwide (pre-DVD!) it's pretty obvious that this one didn't exactly fly under the radar. But admittedly being somewhat of a film snob and guessing that many Screengrab readers and writers may fit in the same category, I thought this might just fit the bill. Who knows, without a thirteen-hour flight to sit through, I may never have discovered this effects heavy, pleasant surprise of a mega-blockbuster myself.

Why we missed it:
Director Michael Bay's last attempt, The Island, was a waste of film, not to mention millions of dollars, and would probably make many people's Top 10 "I Want My Time and Money Back" lists.

As a child of the '80s, (and a proud fan of Clash of the Titans) these all-CGI-all-the-time movies can be more nuisance and nonsense than popcorn classics.

Why we should have known:
As a child of the '80s, I should have remembered one simple fact. Transformers = AWESOME!

Why we ended up kicking ourselves:
A well-cast group of actors, led by the likable Shia LaBeouf, who carries the movie with his manic chattering and off-track humor. For men, there's the jailbait vision of Megan Fox and the fresh face of Rachael Taylor. For women there are ebony-and-ivory hunks Tyrese and Josh Duhamel. And for fans of Kangaroo Jack, there's Anthony Anderson.

The big-budget effects work much better in a story about alien robots than they do for those centered around superheroes or snakes. The Transformers themselves actually manage to integrate well with actors and real settings making for some very satisfying action sequences.

The movie rests on a simple but effective formula that seems unearthed from an '80s blueprint itself. Think Back to the Future and/or any of the countless other movies where the social nobody/nice-guy fuck-up turns out to be a lovable hero who saves the world and gets the girl, by using nerd knowledge and inner strength that nobody knew he had in him. It still works because there are more Shia LaBeoufs than Will Smiths in the world.

Why we may have been better off without it:
Believe it or not, indie stalwart John Turturro is the film's weak link as an overzealous cop.

There is probably an age cap on this one. If you were an adult when kids were playing with the toys, you probably didn't get it then, and it's unlikely you'll feel much different now. But to the film's credit, it's able to bring a young generation of fans up to date with the franchise much better than the many other movie attempts at reviving old TV favorites. (Dukes of Hazzard anyone?)

— Bryan Whitefield

The Screengrab : tyrese

Precursors: 2 Fast 2 Furious (2003)

Movies We Missed: Transformers (2007)