“New model. Original parts.” That was the tagline for Fast & Furious, and it doubles as a fair description of the film itself. Justin Lin’s 2009 entry, the fourth in the franchise, reassembles the original cast and asks them to do the same work again, only louder. It mostly holds together, though the seams show.
Trailer, via The Fast Saga.
Dom Toretto Comes Home
Fast & Furious opens five years after Dom Toretto fled Los Angeles. He and his crew — Letty, Tego Leo, Rico Santos, Cara, and Han Lue — are hijacking fuel tankers in the Dominican Republic. Dom suspects the police are closing in and leaves Letty behind to keep her safe. Months later, in Panama City, his sister Mia calls with the news that Letty has been murdered.
Dom returns to Los Angeles for the funeral and finds traces of nitromethane at the crash site. He works the local mechanic for a name and gets one: David Park. The only car in the area that runs nitromethane is a green 1972 Ford Torino Sport. Meanwhile, FBI agent Brian O’Conner is hunting Mexican drug lord Arturo Braga, and his search leads him to the same man.
Two Cars, One Race
The film’s centerpiece is a street race with a place on Braga’s crew as the prize. Brian pulls a modified 2002 Nissan Skyline GT-R R34 from the impound lot. Dom shows up in his 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle SS. Ramon Campos and Gisele Yashar lay out the terms: the winner becomes the last driver on a team running heroin across the Mexico–United States border.
| Driver | Car | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Dom Toretto | 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle SS | Wins by bumping Brian in nitro |
| Brian O’Conner | 2002 Nissan Skyline GT-R R34 | Loses control, takes Dwight Mueller’s place |
Dom takes the win by shoving Brian’s car while both are on nitro, sending him out of control. Brian answers by arresting another driver, Dwight Mueller, and claiming his seat on the team. It is the film’s best sequence and its clearest statement of what these two men are to each other.
Fenix and the Torino
The crew meets Braga’s henchman, Fenix, and Dom spots the green Torino from the mechanic’s description. They cross the border through tunnels to avoid detection. Dom confronts Fenix and learns what happened to Letty. That payoff is the reason this film exists, and it lands with enough weight to justify the reunion.
A Franchise Finding Its Footing
Lin and writer Chris Morgan returned from Tokyo Drift, and so did composer Brian Tyler. The film was announced in July 2007, shot from early February to August 2008 in Los Angeles and the Dominican Republic, and premiered at the Gibson Amphitheatre on March 12, 2009. It was the first film in the series produced by Vin Diesel, and the first theatrical release to feature 4DX and D-BOX motion.
The placement matters more than the spectacle. Fast & Furious was built to sit before Tokyo Drift, with the short film Los Bandoleros filling the gap. That is a series learning to treat its own timeline as an asset.
The Verdict on Fast & Furious
The cast does what the script asks. Vin Diesel and Paul Walker have a lived-in distrust that sells the truce, and Michelle Rodriguez makes Letty’s absence felt even when she is off screen. Gal Gadot’s Gisele and Sung Kang’s Han are thin here, but they point toward better things.
What holds Fast & Furious back is the middle. The heroin-smuggling plot is a machine for moving cars from one set piece to the next, and the tunnels sequence never matches the street race that precedes it. The tagline promises original parts. What the film delivers is a rebuilt engine that runs well enough to earn the next lap.
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