Lets face it critics are always going to pan such films because of 2 important reasons.
1)They don’t like such films (and still people will not watch the movie going by the critics, don’t you’ll have your own tastes)
2)Its not cool for a so called cinema lover to like such films (this is the number 1 reason for the low ratings).
I say F*&k those so called Critics.
THIS IS A BLOODY GOOD FILM IN ITS GENRE.
Hell this movie has everything, loads of HOT CARS, dozens, maybe even more HOT WOMEN, loads of ATTITUDE, CRAZT STUNTS (which in told and even I felt are not CGI), exotic settings (filmed in LA though I was told), ONE OF THE BEST EXECUTIONS OF BACKGROUND SCORE AND SOUNDTRACKS IN RECENT HISTORY, LOADS OF FRESH FACES, and did I say hot women and hot cars....... You get my point don’t you,
PLOT AND CAST IN COMMENTS IF NEEDED.
I would have liked to say that this is a GUY FILM but once again I was shocked by how much the women loved it (check out the breakup of the ratings), however I was in a theater filled with guys and each and everyone of us gasped when we saw the bevy of hot cars and women. Half of us cracked the SHIP US TO JAPAN JOKE.
The movie did have some jarring problems for me, namely .....
1) WHAT THE HELL WAS BOW WOW DOING IN THIS MOVIE, do filmmakers have to deliberately insert a black guy, and black talk in every film.
THIS FILM IS SET IN JAPAN FOR GODS SAKE. Its hard to digest that the Japenese will accept a white guy but accepting a black guy who wears clothes 5 sizes bigger than him and talks like that. Hell and to add to that you had a few other Japenese dressed that way too, Japenese Yakuzo and underground dressed like that hell no.
AND TO ADD INSULT TO INJURY THE BLACK GUY SOLD STOLEN AND CONTRABAND GOODS. Even if black guys want to see themselves represented in all films would they want to see the stereotypical black goods peddler.
At least there was no actual scene of him selling it from behind his Van and scenes of him selling and smoking dope (i think the ratings may have had something to do with that).
IS RAP AND CRIME ALL THERE IS TO BLACK PEOPLE. I dont think so.
And while you think of all this you forget the fact the Bow Wow cant act.
2)Where is the charismatic star, forget even Vin Diesel Black cant even measure upto Paul Walker, HOWEVER THE FACT THAT HE WAS THAT YOUNG ENDED UP APPEALING TO ME. (for a brief moment, I felt it was OK that I had had 10-11 accidents in my 8 yr driving career (I’m 23 hehe).
3)An American Muscle car beating Japenese Technology??!!!! Hell even with the Jap Engine there is no way a car with such a high Center of gravity is going to survive 2 mins into this race.
4)The other irritating American influences not only do we have black guy, HELL WE HAVE A LATINA GIRL god save me.
5)WTF ARE THE STUPID CAMEO APPEARANCES BY THE American ACTORS CREDITED BEFORE THE BRILLIANTS JAPENESE ONES?
6)In one obvious promo for the Jap Telecom Companies we had people seeing the final race live on their phones and the bow-wow saying stuff like..............you guessed it.
"damn!"
"that what I’m talking bout right there"
But these are trivialities and hardly dent the overall experience.
You really should check out the soundtrack and background score of the film, trust me its great AND ITS USE IN THE MOVIE IS NOTHING SHORT OF SPECTACULAR THE EASTERN INFLUENCES ARE TOTALLY REFRESHING.
The acting by the Japenese cast to good, so many new faces who can act, super!!!
A bloody technical masterpiece, hats of to the entire production.YOU COULD ACTUALLY FEEL THE IMPACT WHEN THE CARS HIT SOMETHING.
And FOR THE FIRST TIME THAT I CAN REMEMBER A MOVIE TRIES TO BE SOMETHING MORE THAN IT IS AND SUCCEEDS. This movie really scored because of these things
1)The contrast of the underground scene with orderly and rules oriented Japenese life, brilliant.
2)The drifting scene with neela with crazy soothing music, clearly in contrast with the insane driving that was needed, poetic and brilliant.
3)The problem most people, even people who have been in the same society (not only a foreign country) for a long time have FITTING IN. And how sometimes you could be a Kaijin on day and one of them the other. Insightful.
This movie has many more such instances but it would only serve to lengthen this already long review.
We were so pumped after we saw this movie we actually raced on the streets of bombay till reality caught up with us. (actually our car lost, I was not driving hehe and the cars were..................hyundais haha a santro and a diesel...yup we sure were desperate to drift hehe).
A MUST WATCH MOVIE FOR GUYS AND ANYBODY WHO WANTS TO WATCH A MOVIE WITH THRILL A MINUTE SEQUENCES ................AND MORE.
+S hot women, hot cars, crazy stunts, succeeds at being more than what its supposed to be , hot women, hot cars........
+/-s the father son relationship badly handled, Japenese trusting a white guy at first glance.
-s Bow Wow (the worst), American power prevails in the end. (notice the struggle between the Japanese sponsors and the American audience and makers, a contrast to the original film where American cars were marginalised and a Honda wins the finale.)
total 8/10 ( A SEQUEL AS GOOD AS THE ORIGINAL I THINK SO (original scores on ............originality hehe.)
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