The Fast and the Furious 2001

Susan Stark, Detroit News: The disconcertingly but finally happy surprise of the picture comes with the way it persuades you to its perverse point of view. Read more

Philip Wuntch, Dallas Morning News: Will appeal to the inner juvenile delinquent in all of us. Read more

Mark Caro, Chicago Tribune: There's some undeniable appeal to watching a well-oiled, built-for-speed machine operating with its pedal to the metal. Read more

Elvis Mitchell, New York Times: Such a drag that it ends up doing something hard to imagine: it makes you long for the soulless professionalism of a Jerry Bruckheimer movie. Read more

Reece Pendleton, Chicago Reader: While few of the paper-thin characters register long enough to make much of an impression, Diesel carries the movie with his unsettling mix of Zen-like tranquillity and barely controlled rage. Read more

David Edelstein, Slate: The narrative takes a gutless turn and replaces the central (and exciting) conflict with a whole different set of villains. Read more

Peter Howell, Toronto Star: The guys in F & F are all wusses. Lara Croft and Charlie's Angels could kick all of their asses. Read more

Steve Murray, Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Even if your life doesn't revolve around your carburetor, the movie is a kicky guilty pleasure. Read more

Scott Tobias, AV Club: Returning the series to solid ground after 2 Fast 2 Furious leaned too heavily on cartoonish CGI effects, Tokyo Drift relies on old-fashioned stunt work that gives its best sequences a sense of brute physicality. Read more

Kevin Thomas, Los Angeles Times: An action picture that's surprising in the complexity of its key characters and portents of tragedy. Read more

Bruce Westbrook, Houston Chronicle: These gear-heads may spout car-talk like know-it-alls, but they sound no less nerdy than trivia-obsessed Trekkers. Read more

Paul Clinton (CNN.com), CNN.com: Screenwriters Gary Scott Thompson, Erik Bergquist, and David Ayer haven't really written a movie, they've followed a formula. Read more

Steven Rosen, Denver Post: Breathes life and fire -- and fury -- into the old hot-rod movie. Read more

Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: Works hard to be exciting, but the movie scarcely lives up to its title. Read more

Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail: Doesn't manage to deliver the wild ride it promises. Read more

Jan Stuart, Newsday: Guilt-free pleasure, the sort that wears its trashiness on its sleeve and exults in it. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: This movie has 'guilty pleasure' written all over it. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: It delivers what it promises to deliver, and knows that a chase scene is supposed to be about something more than special effects. Read more

Andrew O'Hehir, Salon.com: May not have much of a brain, but it's definitely got a pulse. Read more

Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: It's a formula movie, to be sure, but it's Formula One. Read more

Time Out: It doesn't matter that we know where it's going, what counts is that Cohen keeps his pedal to the floor and that his actors gun their lines with absolute conviction. Loud cars, fast music: this movie knows exactly what it's about. Read more

Susan Wloszczyna, USA Today: Cohen ... at least knows how to keep matters moving and the action sequences exciting. Read more

Todd McCarthy, Variety: A gritty and gratifying cheap thrill, Rob Cohen's high-octane hot-car meller is a true rarity these days, a really good exploitationer, the sort of thing that would rule at drive-ins if they still existed. Read more

Amy Taubin, Village Voice: Even those who've never heard of 'rice rockets' (Japanese imports souped up with computerized hydraulics and customized engines) might be charmed by the film's blend of kineticism, car-culture rituals, and hilariously flat-footed dialogue. Read more

Curt Fields, Washington Post: Diesel, Brewster and Rodriguez have undeniable charisma, while Walker is serviceable in his role. Read more

Rita Kempley, Washington Post: The young and the restless with gas fumes. Read more