Fresh from prison, a street racer who was framed by a wealthy business associate joins a cross country race with revenge in mind. His ex-partner, learning of the plan, places a massive bounty on his head as the race begins.
I wasn’t quite sure what to expect when I saw this, but overall I have to say that it was better than I thought it’d be. It wasn’t just The Fast & The Furious with Aaron Paul aka the Breaking Bad guy. It offered good action with no CGI effects, but because they had a fraction of the budget they had to pad it with more story. Just a little more, but it’s there even if it isn’t the greatest one. Aaron Paul’s acting chops are a better than entire cast of Fast & Furious combined so there was arguably more emotional impact. Don’t get me wrong, I love the latest Fast films and I think the cast has amazing chemistry, but nobody’s getting Emmys or Oscars anytime soon in that bunch…
One pleasant surprise for me was the chemistry of this ensemble cast. They brought their own brand of comedy and camaraderie. The biggest surprise was Imogen Poots. I really enjoyed her character and the back and forth with Paul throughout the film. It was cool that she used her British accent instead of affecting an American one. That actually made a difference for me.
There were some downsides of course. I thought it was too noisy. I don’t know if I’m getting old, but I found the constant tire screeching to be pretty grating. Thing is, it’s never bothered me for the Fast films, and definitely not latest one, so it could have been the sound editing. Dakota Johnson was pretty much a waste of time. Her role was completely non-essential and she was bland. I never felt emotional at all about her character, but I have a hard time sympathizing with naïve TSTL types. I wasn’t really all that interested in Dominic Cooper, her villain boyfriend, either. I love me some cool villains but he was your typical cookie cutter bad guy. Boring.
My final thoughts. If you’re comparing it to the Fast &Furious movies, it’s definitely better than the weaker films of that franchise, but I don’t see it replacing it anytime soon. If you love racing movies it might hold you over until the next Fast film. For a limited budget they actually did very well and made it count.