Movie Review: “Fast Five”

Wow. Where’d this come from?

I find the Fast & Furious franchise to be dumb, yes, but ripe with potential for success. The cars are fast, the boys are furious, the girls are sexy and the plots are stupid. This formula might seem simple enough, but none of the films have actually stuck the landing. None of them until this one, that is. The latest Fast & Furious film is immensely well-made, highly entertaining and – save for a few glitches – absolutely pure popcorn fun. Even if you didn’t like its predecessors (especially if you didn’t like ‘em), you should go and see Fast Five: it’s one of the most enjoyable action movies in recent times.

This part of the review is where I sum up the plot of the film. Even though that seems quite useless in this case, I’m not one to break tradition so easily. Here goes: The film opens with Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) being transported to prison by bus. Dominic’s sister Mia (Jordana Brewster) & her boyfriend Brian O’Conner (Paul Walker) break him out of custody and the trio, wanted by authorities, run away to Rio de Janeiro. There, because of events too convoluted to recap, they run afoul of Hernan Reyes, a crime lord who operates a flourishing empire in the city. In an attempt to get back at Reyes, and start a new life, the trio recruit a gang to steal $100million in cash. All this and more (oh, a lot more) is covered in the film’s 130min runtime.

That runtime is one not-insignificant strike against the film. Fast Five sags in the second act and could’ve greatly benefited from a 15min trim. What further complicates matters is that it tends to get a tad too melodramatic at times. You would be excused if you came to see a film like this and were nonplussed if proceedings veered to the morose side unnecessarily. And, just like the other Fast & Furious films, the story has its (un)healthy share of loopholes.

None of that fatally hurts the final product though. I can’t stress enough how much fun I had with this film. The action is awesome. A huge setpiece at the start set around a train is so far over-the-top you feel like you’re in a rollercoaster ride. And that’s just an appetizer; the film’s climax involving two cars, a giant safe and a – how do I say this politely – shitload of blowable stuff is just stunning. It’s a spectacular action sequence, unbelievably thrilling and blissfully ignorant of the Laws of Physics. It would be a giant understatement to say that  the film ends on a high. The humor hits the mark very often too. Although some of it borders on slapstick, I laughed often and I laughed loud. Also, it’s worth pointing out that this film is a real crowd-pleaser. The audience I was with frequently cheered, hooted and just had a great time overall.

Continuing in the vein of 2009′s Fast & Furious (this film is a direct sequel), the original cast is back. Paul Walker tries and tries to infuse emotion into his portrayal of Brian O’Conner but he remains just as (hilariously) wooden as ever. Vin Diesel, whose entry brought out the whistles, has quite a lot of heavyweight stuff to work with here. He handles the “tough guy” material with ease but doesn’t fare half as well with the emotional side. The standout, however, is Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson as Federal Agent Luke Hobbs. He chews scenery almost everytime he’s onscreen and delivers the most trite lines (of which there are plenty) with relish. The fistfight between Johnson and Diesel is rough, real and terrific. A special shout-out to Sung Kang, who plays Han Seoul-Oh (Best. Character name. Ever.) and is just flat-out cool. The girls don’t have much to do apart from looking like a million bucks (which they do very well). The rest of the ensemble is pretty decent, but it felt like the “gang” had two members too many.

It seems like third time is the charm for director Justin Lin, who’s back for his – you guessed it – third entry in this series. I am actively rooting for him to come back for the sixth installment (which is not-too-subtly alluded to in the film’s credits). It’s interesting seeing how the franchise has ballooned in proportion to this slick and international adventure. Full use is made of Rio de Janeiro and if you didn’t know that the city is home to a statue of Christ the Redeemer… by the end of this film, you will (three establishing shots use the landmark).

I’ve said more than enough about the virtues of this film. Because of its nature, it might immediately earn the scorn & scoffs of many people (and there’s certainly reason for that). But as I said at the beginning, take a leap of faith and be sure to check Fast Five out – it’s just that good.

(3.5/4)

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Photo Credit: Universal