'Fast & Furious' speeds headfirst into stupidity

Noise, noise, noise. Crunched metal and shattered glass. More noise. Revving engines. Vin Diesel's gigantic head. Hot chicks in tight miniskirts. Even more noise. The end.

That's pretty much all there is to Fast & Furious, essentially a remake of the 2001 hit The Fast and the Furious with the same cast, except it seems to exist in some parallel universe where the word "the" no longer exists.

It also seems to function outside of logic, cohesive plot structure and the laws of gravity, but hey - this being the fourth film in the street-racing series, such niceties have long since been tossed out the window and run over repeatedly.

Justin Lin, who also directed part three, 2006's The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, piles on the mind-bogglingly elaborate chase scenes and set pieces. You've seen a lot of these sorts of stunts in the previous movies - and heard the same kind of cheesy dialogue - so it's strange to witness how seriously Fast & Furious takes itself .

Mr. Diesel's Dom Toretto is back in Los Angeles and out for revenge. He reluctantly reteams with former undercover cop Brian O'Conner (Paul Walker), who infiltrated Dom's gang in part one. This time, their goal is to take down a drug kingpin . Their strategy leads them into a series of illegal races . There's also a convoluted trip into Mexico, which seems to take place only to set up the film's climactic underground tunnel chase .

If you're into automotive minutiae, you'll probably love the details . If you're into women making out with each other, well, you might sporadically enjoy yourself, as well. But if you like to use your brain ... dude. Drive on.