After a long week of independent films and long dramas, Universal’s latest film, Fast Five was exactly what I needed. I was ready to see some fast and reckless driving, hot girls, and the Rock square off against Vin Diesel in what I had hoped would be the franchises’ return to its roots. Let’s just say I was pretty happy with the result.
The first thing you should known about the fifth installment of the Fast and the Furious series is that this is not a racing movie so don’t expect it to be. There are a lot less cool driving scenes compared to some of the past films but don’t ride it off just yet. The film turns from cons being on the run to a full on heist film, one of my favorite genre types.
The movie opens up with a prison break, orchestrated by O’Conner (Paul Walker) and Mia (Jordana Brewster) in order to free Dom (Vin Diesel). The three flee to Rio and take refuge with Vince (Matt Schulze) from the first film. After an amazing opening scene in which they try to steal three beautiful cars, the lot of them move up to number one on the most wanted list.
Enter Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson), a special ops kind of guy whose job is to find the most elusive criminals. Not only is Hobbs chasing the group but so is Reyes, a powerful man who practically runs Rio and wants a chip that the group accidentally came upon. The chip contains data that shows where all of Reyes cash houses are, this is where the group decides that they won’t run anymore, and instead they decide to pull one last job and hope to retire on what they make from it. With the return of old faces like Tej (Ludacris), Roman (Tyrese Gibson), Han (Sung Kang), Gisele (Gal Gadot) and a slew of others, this is where their last stand is made.
If you enter this movie with the right expectations I think you’ll end up having a great time, I know the 65 year old woman sitting next to me was, and so was I. First things first, expect inconsistent acting. You had decent performances by Diesel, Walker, Ludacris and a few others, and then you had some very poor performances by Johnson and Gibson. With so many familiar faces in the film we really didn’t need Johnson’s involvement. He didn’t have much screen time and it felt like his role was just thrown in there (maybe to set up the next film?). Tack on his horrible dialogue and poor delivery and you just have an awful role. As for Tyrese, he was just terrible at delivering his lines. While at times he may have been funny, it’s only because of the script and his interactions with Ludacris.
The guys who really steal the show are the two Brazilian brothers who constantly bicker with each other throughout the entire movie. The combination of hysterical lines and great chemistry resulted in some good old fashion entertainment that everyone can enjoy.
Secondly, don’t expect this to be realistic. There are some films where you can easily overlook how outrageous the action sequences are, but with this one you might have to give it a bit more room because when you start thinking about the physics of the final chase scene, nothing really ends up making sense.
You’re probably wondering, how was the fight between Diesel and Johnson? I thought it was intense and did its job of gripping me from start to finish. When that much testosterone collides you almost have to expect it to be good. My chief complaint about it is that there are too many close-ups and cuts, so it ends up making it a bit choppy rather than one fluid fight.
Overall, director Justin Lin did a solid job of transitioning the series from a street racing franchise to one geared towards heists. He did a great job of putting in all the elements his target market, guys ages 14-25, wants to see. Fast Five is the perfect cinema candy to help escape some of the dullness of our everyday lives and live in a world where fast cars rule the world. So guys, you’re probably going to like this one.
Rating: A high octane demolition derby that definitely does its job of entertaining the masses (7/10)
P.S. Don’t leave when the credits begin to roll, otherwise you’ll miss some crazy sh*t!
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