As lame as it may be, I couldn’t help but use that for my title this time around. With the true sequel to “the Fast and the Furious” coming out April 3rd, I felt compelled to just chill and watch the original last night.
Sure, it may not be the best racing movie of all time, but that doesn’t stop it from being any less entertaining. It has a very dynamic group of characters, who all look like they’re returning for the sequel which, in true creative genius, is called “Fast and Furious.”
I kid you not, the Hollywood executives literally took out the “the.” But, that little change helps us to distinguish this movie from the others, so I guess that could be a plus. As I already mentioned, it looks like the original cast is coming back. Strangely enough, the first time I saw the main cast and release date for this movie was actually in-game in NHL 09 on my PlayStation 3.
It turns out that EA Sports is allowing more in-game advertising for their titles now. In fact, I recall seeing an advertisement for the television series “Ax Men” on the History Channel as I was crashing Sidney Crosby into the boards. But, that’s beside the point. I did see that “Fast and Furious” advertisement in-game recently and I noticed that the four individuals on the poster were the same four individuals on the cover art of the original.
Dom, Brian, Mia and Letty all make appearances in the trailer, with the notable exception of Jesse. If you consider the backstory of these four individuals, you’ll notice that it’s pretty much Dom and Brian and then their love interests, (Letty and Mia, respectively.) Now, concerning Jesse, I don’t know if I just missed it or perhaps they deliberately left him out. Either way, this brings up one of the main objectives of sequels – to answer those cliffhanging questions.
Did Jesse die at the end? Did Vince survive those injuries? Are Brian and Mia on the same page again? Where is the rest of the old crew and what are they up to now?
Of course, no one knows. So that’s why they, (the Hollywood executives,) entice you with trailers and promos and such and get you to go see the movie. That wouldn’t be so bad if movies were as cheap as they used to be. These days, it’s getting a little crazy. I recently went to go “He’s Just Not That Into You,” (surprisingly, a good movie in my opinion,) and I believe the student ticket cost me nine or ten dollars. I don’t know if it’s just me, but that seems like a little over-the-top.
What the truly sad part is, I’ll probably end up fishing out that ten dollars, buy some six dollar popcorn, a five dollar drink and sit there with the rest of the consumers in the theater, eagerly anticipating every twist and street race awaiting me.
But, to get back to where I was before this random deviation, what does it mean to “live [your] life a quarter mile at a time?” This quote was taken from Dominic Toretto, played by Vin Diesel, who is undoubtedly one of the most intriguing characters in the story.
Initially, Toretto is presented as the classic bad guy, who runs the main gang, but as the story progresses, you begin to see this side of him where he has a troubled past and all he wants to do is to leave it behind him. That’s where the quote comes into play, Toretto mentions that for each quarter mile, he can forget everything that bothers him and just be free for those ten seconds or so.
With that in mind, living life “a quarter mile at a time” is definitely something I can get behind. We all have our problems, myself included, and it truly would be one of the most relieving and gratifying feelings to just let it all go at any time.
Expanded into a more general term, the quote simply becomes “live life one day at a time.” So, that’s pretty much exactly what Toretto’s trying to do, just within the context of an illegal street racer.
Take away the illegal part of that and you’ve got yourself an easy way to clear your mind and focus on the little things. Of course, if you’re intending on becoming a street racer to clear your mind, you’ll probably need a pretty hefty bank account as well. Clearing one’s mind doesn’t come as easily when you’re losing to tricked out Honda Civics all the time.
In the end, I really do like this movie, and I must say, it was definitely one that I did not expect to take something meaningful out of. But I did, so that’s that. Interpretation is in the eye of the beholder, so that’s why we always end up having varied reviews on just about everything. With that said, feel free to check out the reviews section of the page, where I’ve recently broken down Resident Evil 5 for the PlayStation 3.
Aside from that shameless plug, the real message here is to just take a step back from everything. Check out all of the details that you didn’t have time to notice before. Look at every little aspect of your daily life and appreciate it for what it’s worth. But then, when you do have to re-immerse yourself back into the hectic lifestyle we all live, just remember to live it “one quarter mile at a time.”