Joe Leydon Film CriticTwenty years ago this week, Vin Diesel put pedal to the metal for the first time as Dominic Toretto, a.k.a.
Dom, in “The Fast and the Furious,” a high-speed action-adventure about an undercover FBI agent (Paul Walker) monitoring illegal street racers suspected of hijacking truckloads of home electronics.
Talk about your humble origins.The movie initially was greeted by many critics (including yours truly) as a flashily entertaining but instantly forgettable recycling of characters and conventions from decades-old B-movies about hot rods and cool cats. (Even its title was cribbed from a 1954 Roger Corman opus.) Who could have imagined it would spawn no fewer than eight sequels and a stand-alone spin-off?
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