“I think what keeps it going is that it’s not really about cars. At the core, Fast and the Furious is about family and how to create them.” – Justin Lin, director of “Fast 5.”
The fifth installment of the “Fast and the Furious” saga, “Fast 5”, opens with stars Vin Diesel and Paul Walker as fugitives on the run from federal agents (led by a shiny biceped super cop played by Dwayne Johnson.) Together, Diesel & Walker lead an elite team of street racers (which includes series returnees Tyrese Gibson, Sung Kang, Ludacris, and the very sexy Gal Gadot & Jordana Brewster) as they prepare for “one last job”: a high-stakes heist in Brazil that involves stealing a vault, literally, out of a fortified police station. If they can accomplish this seemingly impossible mission, they can use the money in the vault to buy their freedom (and completely stick it to a corrupt business man who set them up in a train-car heist that, literally, goes south earlier in the film.) That is, if they are not first captured by Johnson, who mounts an all out assault through the slums of Rio De Janeiro to apprehend all of them. He even gets to utter that direst of commands “…NEVER let them near cars!”
Now, I know what some of you are thinking: "why do we need a 'Fast and the Furious 5'?! Did they not say all that needed to be said in the first 'Fast and the Furious'? How about '2 Fast to 2 Furious'? 'Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift'? How about plain ol' 'Fast and Furious' (not a reboot, but the 4th chapter!) What is the appeal of this series, anyway?” I highly doubt it is the family dynamics Linn mentions in the above quote (can you see any of these guys choosing a family station wagon over an American muscle car? Don't think so.) For some, it might be to see if all of the blatant bromancing will lead to more than just that (judging by the way Diesel & Johnson are looking at each other in the above pic, you could cut the sexual tension with a spork!) All kidding aside, maybe much of the appeal can be attributed to one thing: eye- candy. This is a series that sells eye-candy better than most commercials sell it. When a ticket is purchased for “Fast 5”, here is what is guaranteed: cool guys, sexy babes, badass attitude, and enough absurdly cool stunts to make me want to get in my little Chevy Impala and “Tokyo Drift” out of the movie theater parking lot. Although, a disclaimer in the end credits prevented me from realizing this fantasy: "the following stunts were performed by professional stunt drivers. Please, do not try this at home." OKAY, ya talked me out of it!
The franchise seems to be making a fast dash away from the street racing and car culture that has come to characterize the franchise up to this point. Instead, they seem to be heading in the direction of the heist genre (think "Oceans 11"). Why change a franchise that has currently grossed almost a $1 billion worldwide? Maybe the previously successful “Furious” outings were just too limited in their box office reach and Universal Pictures felt like they needed to expand the franchise into something more. Whatever is made of it later (a "Fast 6" is already being planned) the heist aspects worked for me. Where most series are winding down at the 5th entry (tiresomely repeating the same shtick over and over again) the "Fast" series gets points for at least trying to mix in some new genre blood (although, there is no shortage of car action!) It also helps to have a pretty good returning cast: Vin Diesel's chisled biceps and charisma continue to command the screen, Tryrese Gibson brings some much needed comic relief, and Kang, Brewster, Gadot, & the sexy Elsa Pataky (as one of Johnson's cops) are all serviceable; meaning they deliver exactly what is required of them. Though a special kudos to Dwayne Johnson, who fully embraces his cheesy character by playing it completely straight, yet also permitting himself a goofy smile every once in awhile; he seems to be genuinely having fun! And those oiled biceps of his, I mentioned earlier, never appear un-glistened! I was surprised he never tried to blind anyone with them while in one of his many fights scenes (his muscles should really be credited separately; let's put it this way, his biceps are so big they have their own gift shop!)
Overall, I really enjoyed "Fast 5"! It's big, loud, & dumb fun that goes really good with a large soda and popcorn (the more butter, the better!) Director Linn deserves an especially big bucket of win with his truly audacious flair for action (especially the final car chase which manages to top, in sheer mass destruction, the chase in Michael Bay's "Bad Boys 2") and it is always refreshing to see real cars being employed in stunts (as opposed to obvious CGI.) Also, if you ever wondered what a fight scene between Diesel & Johnson would look like, then look no further; Linn stages a brutal Clash between these Titans which left me exhausted by the end of it (and also wanting to work out!) Yes, the plot is total nonsense, the dialogue is simplistic & cheesy, and the action sequences make the expression, "over-the-top", sound subtle. Yet, "Face 5" kept me entertained for 2 hours with a big silly grin on my face throughout. Side note: if you are at all a fan of this series, stay through the end credits!
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