The Fast And The Furious Review

The first thing you notice about "The Fast And The Furious" is it's loud, really, really loud. Then, before you can catch your breath, you're caught up in a dynamic car chase as three souped up cars with blacked out windows chase down a huge articulated lorry. As the cars weave in and out of the truck's path – and even underneath it – you can't help but be impressed by the sheer spectacle.

Soon we're watching undercover cop Paul Walker infiltrate the gang of new Hollywood action man Vin Diesel, who plays Dominic, the greatest illegal street racer in LA who may – or may not – be the brains behind the string of daring truck robberies. To win their trust Walker takes on all comers in a race through the night time streets of LA, where the serious players use octane bursts to give their cars that little extra push.

In many ways it's the cars that are the stars of this movie, with some amazing street races and chases augmented with razor sharp editing and a pounding MTV friendly soundtrack. Vin Diesel's impressive on screen presence dominates every scene he's in, and its easy to see why the makers of "Terminator 3" have been talking to him about taking on Schwarzeneger. The plot may bear more than a passing resemblance to "Point Break" (Katherine Bigalow's tale of an undercover cop and surfing bank robbers), and the characters may come across as little more than the most one dimensional of street cool stereotypes, but you'll be hard pressed to find a better looking and more enjoyable Saturday night popcorn movie this year.