Fast & Furious 1-2
Go ahead, not-so-bad-guy. You've earned it.
The first nine Fast and Furious movies are on Netflix this month, so we're watching them in order, partly to enjoy, partly to hate-watch.
The first movie, "The Fast and the Furious," came out 25 years ago (!), and... it's not bad. It's fun and a bit silly, but the physics and fighting are fairly grounded (the one guy who does try to do something fancy by leaping onto another vehicle has to be stabilized by the hero before being whisked to the hospital by CareFlite). The movie has the usual tropes: the new guy in the gang who's an undercover cop, the gang member who hates new guy for no reason and ends up being saved by him, and the bad guy who's really not that bad.
The second movie, "2 Fast 2 Furious,' felt different. Vin Diesel isn't even in it. Ludacris is the "one guy who knows everything that happens in this town" (which is Miami, not NY or LA, which is a nice change), and Tyrese is the "former childhood friend who went to jail and blames the hero, but joins forces with him and they become insta-bros." More bikinis, more ass-slapping, more cliche lines: "Are you ready for this?" "Let's do this" "Bro!"
The physics start to get stretchy in this one. Somehow, all cars are exactly as fast as all other cars, regardless of weight and turbos/nitrous oxide, and all cars can turn just as tightly, regardless of suspension and center of gravity, except for police department Chevy Caprices, which pile up at every corner. Still, nobody's leaping from a moving vehicle on purpose, yet.
The main thing that hit me in 2 was this: All these incredibly expensive Fast cars with scenery-chewing Furious drivers would get smoked by a stock Tesla Series Y sedan, which can do 0-60 in 3.5 seconds and goes for $30k, used.
It's like watching a horror movie before cell phones. So much of this movie just can't happen anymore.
Onward to Christopher Nolan's favorite of the series (really), "The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift," tonight.