The Fast and the Furious
Universal Pictures | Release Date: June 22, 2001 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
58
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 34 Critic Reviews
Positive:
20
Mixed:
9
Negative:
5
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
90
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
Shrewdly conceived, confidently executed and outrageously entertaining.
80
EmpireAdam Smith
In seamlessly interweaving top-notch CGI and incredible stuntwork, Cohen has delivered some of the finest auto-action ever put on screen. Read full review
80
Total FilmStaff (Not Credited)
With a little money, a lot of innovation, and sweat-soaked stunt sequences backed by a thumping soundtrack, The Fast And The Furious reminds you just how exciting action cinema can be. It's everything that Gone In 60 Seconds should have been. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesKevin Thomas
The result is an intensely involving entertainment that can be enjoyed by viewers who scarcely know how their own cars work. Read full review
80
Washington PostCurt Fields
Along with the cast's charm, they provide enough fuel for a fun one (movie). Read full review
80
Village VoiceAmy Taubin
(You) might be charmed by the film's blend of kineticism, car-culture rituals, and hilariously flat-footed dialogue. Read full review
80
SalonAndrew O'Hehir
Loud, trashy, implausible and exciting, The Fast and the Furious may not have much of a brain, but it's definitely got a pulse. Read full review
80
VarietyTodd McCarthy
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 full review
80
L.A. WeeklyManohla Dargis
The best cheap thrill to come out of Hollywood in ages -- it's a shot of tonic for the current blockbuster bloat. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
Something special about it. It's a formula movie, to be sure, but it's Formula One. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
Not a great movie, but it delivers what it promises to deliver, and knows that a chase scene is supposed to be about something more than special effects. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeJay Carr
Turbo-charged wallbanger with the IQ of a tire iron. But it jumps off the screen with the mindless panache of a good bad movie.
70
The Hollywood ReporterKirk Honeycutt
The fun of a movie like this is not found in its logic, but in scary stunts and supercharged emotions. Read full review
70
New Times (L.A.)M.V. Moorhead
The movie may be intellectually sophomoric, dramatically adolescent and morally vacuous, but it's good fun while it lasts. Read full review
67
Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam Arnold
With its machine-gun editing, extremely loud (mostly rap) soundtrack, occasional music-video interlude and overall in-your-face sensibility, it's a movie that's determined to chase anyone past age 30 or so right out of theater. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleMarc Savlov
Pure, unadulterated teen exploitation filmmaking at its best -- a heady, rocketing blast of fast cars, loud hip-hop, and a script so cheesy it might as well have “Made in Wisconsin” stamped on it. Read full review
63
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
The story is overly familiar and the characters are all types, but Cohen's cinematic techniques make The Fast and the Furious watchable. Read full review
63
USA TodaySusan Wloszczyna
High-grade B flick about illegal street racing among gangs in Los Angeles applies the brakes only for the bare minimum of plot injection. Read full review
63
Chicago TribuneMark Caro
There's some undeniable appeal to watching a well-oiled, built-for-speed machine operating with its pedal to the metal -- even if it's destined to wind up in flames before the finish line. Read full review
63
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
A massive compendium of youth-movie/pedal-to-the-metal cliches. But man, is it fast!
60
The A.V. ClubScott Tobias
Better equipped to deal with the workings of nitro-injection systems than human emotions, director Rob Cohen's film grows less assured the more time it spends with its characters, particularly through its dull middle section. It does earn points for trying, however, and while Walker is a cipher, Diesel has enough personality for both of them. Read full review
60
Mr. ShowbizKevin Maynard
Strictly where the boys are: posing, posturing, and talking engine envy.
60
SlateDavid Edelstein
Fearless as these racers are, it's hard to muster enthusiasm for a movie that plays chicken and then swerves about a mile before the collision. Read full review
60
Chicago ReaderReece Pendleton
While few of the paper-thin characters register long enough to make much of an impression, Diesel carries the movie. Read full review
50
Portland OregonianKim Morgan
This is not a movie about actors. It's a movie about racing, chasing, chicks and adrenaline -- just what many theatergoers are dying for in a summer dominated by a sweet ogre and a dumbed-down historical tragedy. Read full review
50
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
Works hard to be exciting, but the movie scarcely lives up to its title. It could have used a bit of a fuel injection itself. Read full review
50
New York PostJonathan Foreman
Better than any automobile flick put out by Hollywood in a while and, thanks to some genuinely exciting moments, it is easily the most entertaining so far of this summer's big, brainless action movies. Read full review
40
TV Guide MagazineTanya L. Edwards
This testosterone-driven, car-crime picture evokes the testosterone-driven, surf-crime picture "Point Break." Read full review
40
The New York TimesElvis Mitchell
Neither fast nor furious, this film belongs in the section of the supermarket where blah-white labels and big block lettering denote brandless cigarettes, vodka, crushed pineapple and, in this case, action picture. Read full review
38
Baltimore SunMichael Sragow
If it worked, The Fast and the Furious would put viewers in the same position as the policeman protagonist, attracted to speed but appalled by crime. Instead it sentences you to an hour and a half in a high-decibel limbo. Read full review
30
Rolling StonePeter Travers
Rob Cohen, who last directed "The Skulls" --ouch! -- can consider this one another career-killing skid mark. Read full review
25
Miami HeraldRene Rodriguez
Drowns in its own noxious fumes. Who knew being bad could be so dull?
25
New York Daily NewsJami Bernard
Unless you live and breathe exhaust fumes, there isn't much to sustain a viewer through a lame story and dialogue so pathetic. Read full review
20
Washington PostRita Kempley
The Fast and the Furious is "Rebel Without a Cause" without a cause. The young and the restless with gas fumes. The quick and the dead with skid marks. Read full review
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