Hey folks, Harry here.. Still in lingering agony over a pulled muscle in my back that I can only assume was caused by a banned Talkbacker with a VooDoo Doll ordered from Creepshow magazine.

As Massawyrm pointed out tonight, it is fitting that my back is screaming, because when I was at the screening for the first film for this franchise... I was recovering from some sort of back trauma. I don't remember that part, but I remember the audience. It was a PURE carsploitation genre loving audience. The parking lot was filled with hot rods and low riders. After the film, they began drag racing around the lots - plumes of rubber burning smoke everywhere. Pretty great audience that got me just in the mood for the film.

This time out, it was different. I had a 100 seats to fill in an auditorium that held lots more - so it was a more relaxed screening. There were no cherry whacked out vehicles out front. And I know I might not seem like a gearhead, but there was a point where I could & did strip down an engine - and loved the Zen of working on a car. Made me feel like Luke Skywalker tooling away on a droid or his landspeeder... Going to a Western Auto or an Auto Zone was like going to pick up some Power Converters.

These 4 FAST AND FURIOUS movies are a solid goofball run on the Carsploitation Genre.

Now - they're not THE GREAT CAR MOVIES OF ALL TIME, but they more solidly exist within a fantasy gearhead universe that I kind of adore.

The worst film of the franchise is the 2nd. The best film was the first one. Lastly the most fun was TOKYO DRIFT - simply because it was just ludicrously fun.

So where does this newly tooled tricked out FAST AND FURIOUS settle down?

Well - there's still a race. There's still crazy high speed criminal activity. And there's some crazy awesome at play throughout. Biggest issue this time out is a bit of uneven storytelling that hurts what at times feels like the best of the series.

What is Great?

VIN DIESEL.

For a goodly portion of FAST AND FURIOUS - they seem to want to apply the mentality of Film Noir to their own particular brand of carsploitation. In particular - Vin Diesel is playing a character that is three quarters Billy Jack and one quarter Moose Malloy - shaken and poured into Mr Clean's idealized body! Something has gone rotten in Toretto's life - I'll let the film play it out for you, but he's hungry for blood. And there is a glorious bit of Vin just stomping gum and chewing ass for a part of this movie. Then there's a point where the film just kinda plopped into the FAST AND FURIOUS Mold. He's still driven by revenge, but it seems they begin putting more and more of Paul Walker's Brian O'Conner into play.

Honestly, Vin Diesel is the star of this franchise. He's just. His name, his voice... he's created for this character. (psst... and Riddick)

Jack Conley's PENNING!

Jack's Penning is so much fun. He's a fantastic character, he plays the FBI agent running the operation that Paul Walker is on. You see - there's a mysterious man running an operation where illegal street racers are being brought into the country to drive loads of narcotics into this country - in quantities far greater than any trafficking business in recorded criminal history. Whoever runs it is a smokes and mirrors guy - they're not even sure if he exists, no photos, fingerprints, voice recordings... they have NO evidence of his existence beyond the fact everything points at him. PENNING's team hasn't been doing particularly good on this case, so he activates a suspended former agent, our boy Brian to infiltrate with his awesome Car savvy and not end up dead like every other dead agent they sent in.

Now Vin and Brian's interests and motivations are not exactly the same. Brian wants the "invisible man" and Vin wants to KILL... PAINFULLY... The Invisible Man's tattooed Oddjob fella.

This leaves the gal parts pretty much short and sweet. Jordana Brewster is beautiful and cute as aways, but her part is an after thought here. She's on screen to tear up, to smile, to hug and to begin kitchen sex - which is so far beneath the standard bearer of Kitchen Sex... Jack Nicholson and Jessica Lange in the remake of THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE. But, that's probably just me. Sigh.

Now - you want to know about the car stuff. It is decidedly less silly than that "drifting lunacy" in the last film, which technically happens - probably two movies after this one - at least.

Also - it should be noted that Paul Walker's face has finally matured to the point that he is now very tolerable on screen. He's also dropped the Keanu act. Blessedly. In many ways - he feels like a fully developed version of his original character - who has learned a great deal since that first experience. He also thinks he knows the lay of the land. He kinda does. But he still isn't worthy of one of Vin's follicles. And we all know how dear those are to Vin!

Speaking of Vin, I just want to go back to him. This time out, Vin Diesel is some sort of Road Jedi. There's an awesome, prepare to majorly suspend your suspension of belief, moment where Vin comes to the site of his tragedy (of which he was not a part of) and just looking at the road - he can see everything that happened. Including both cars - their makes and tire brands. He's like an asphalt Chingachgook mixed with a bit of Magua. It is very very cool.

The car sequences push believability - in the same awesome craziness we've come to expect from this series.

Though I am still hoping for a stand alone TORETTO movie - where Vin's Dominic is the central and main focus of the film. Vin has transformed his character with this storyline into a Thinking Man's Thug. He's a man with a code to live by and kill by. A tad of his Riddick abilities leak in here - in terms of his ability to constantly be several steps ahead of everyone else - and to do it with heaps of relish.

What's wrong?

Every attempt at romance. It just plays forced and will cause giggles, rolled eyes and sighs from the audience, and not the heart thumping sighs Romance is meant to cause.

This is very nearly a better film than the first - the parts that rule here, are the best parts of the series. The best thing that could have happened in this film - would have been has Sung Kang's Han had been the other MAIN character of the film - working with Toretto to exact his revenge. Alas - we get just the slightest glimpse of that awesome pairing.

If you like this series - you're going to LOVE this! If you don't - the film will have its moments, but it won't convert you to the series if you've dismissed it. While this is a sequel to the original we've been waiting for, it acknowledges the other installments smartly.

Do you think the next one will be called FAST, FURIOUS!?!?