Turn Off Your Brain and Enjoy the Ride

Rating: 8/10 (6 December 2014)

Almost as if some sort of divine intervention took place, this Fast movie is the best in the franchise, combining a lot of high-octane, ridiculous action with a decent plot, bad guy, and the entertaining character interactions of the previous film. Instead of boring us with attempts at story and character this one understands that the Fast series should be popcorn films and assaults us with nonstop action from start to finish. None of the middle slump I complained about in the other movies, this one is paced well.
Federal agent Hobbes tasks Dom and the team with one final mission; to take down a world class driver connected to the cartel from Fast and Furious, and who also has Letty driving with him. Since she's supposed to be dead, this interests Dom immensely and leads to a reunion from the previous film. Taking down the bad guys won't be as easy as before and the team races through the streets of London and Spain to stop a super weapon from being placed in the wrong hands.
It's a James Bond level plot with Schwarzenegger style action. The focus is not on racing but on driving fast and causing a lot of explosions. It's dumb, that's for sure, but it's also exceptionally fun. The tank scene gets a groan for physics but a hurray for still managing to be kind of awesome. The final scene has the longest runway on the planet combined with the stupidest take down of a cargo plane in film history but it's still cool. Turn off your brain, sit back, and enjoy it. That's all you can do.
As a movie it's the most fun of the series, the best as far as action goes, and I have to say it's the most entertained I've been since starting the franchise. A lot of people hate this one because of the focus not being on where the series started but I think it's better this way and the product is a lot more enjoyable. It's not a film for everyone but if you love big, dumb action movies, this one is a true treat.