Written by Guillermo Troncoso.
It’s hard to believe that twelve years have past since The Fast and the Furious first sped onto our screens. Well, five movies later and our characters are far away from their L.A. street races. In fact, the first film’s far-fetched action sequences seem almost realistic compared to what goes on this time round.
Dom (Vin Diesel) and Brian’s (Paul Walker) team have dispersed all over the globe after the events in Brazil. Agent Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) is forced to recruit the gang to London to help take down a criminal-mastermind, Shaw (Luke Evans). The incentive? It just so happens that Shaw is working with the love Dom thought was dead, Letty (Michelle Rodriguez). On top of that Hobbs has promised full pardons for everyone in the team.
This franchise seems to go on and on, doesn’t it? I was ready to dismiss the series after the disappointing third and fourth entries, but then Fast & Furious 5 (a.k.a. Fast Five) came along and reinvigorated the series with a confident sense of escapist fun.
After being shown a montage of the first five movies during the opening credits, we catch up with all our characters in different parts of the world. New comers may get a little lost at the way all these people connect but ultimately it doesn’t really matter. These characters are likeable and the cast all do a great job in delivering fun performances.
The story isn’t very good, but it is serviceable. There are one too many tangents that don’t really add up to much and the first half of the film is in need of a good trimming. I wouldn’t usually suggest this, but maybe the film shouldn’t waste time on explaining the ins and outs of an ultimately limp storyline. Luke Evans’ cool-as-ice bad guy withstanding, the story works solely as an excuse to place these amiable characters in some over-the-top action scenes. Which it does well – very well.
Honestly, this is an action film that has one thing in mind: entertainment. Too many films these days attempt to be more than what they are and end up looking ridiculous. Fast & Furious 6 mostly gets it. Action film aficionados are going to lose their collective shit. The high-octane action that unfolds is truly impressive. Some sequences are so over-the-top and in-your-face-cool that you can’t help but want to applaud. The highway scene involving a tank is one of the best action scenes that I have seen in a long time.
Justin Lin is responsible for directing the last four movies in the series and he smartly follows the stylings of F&F5 for the sixth entry. It’s a damn fun ride that entertains you to the point that you look over the film’s gaping plot-holes and mediocre storytelling. By the time the airport finale comes to a fiery close you’ll be left saying, “Let’s do that again!”.
THE REEL SCORE: 8/10.
– G.T.
