Bizarro World

Rating: 8/10 (28 May 2013)

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson is officially the new Arnold Schwarzenegger. But more importantly, the person in charge of keeping The Rock bicep-deep in arm butter should get some Executive Producer credits and be deemed the new hardest working man in Hollywood.
Under the direction of Justin Lin, "Fast & Furious 6" sees the return of almost everyone from "Fast Five"; including Vin Diesel as Dominic Toretto, Paul Walker as Brian O'Conner, Dwayne Johnson as Hobbs, Jordana Brewster, Tyrese Gibson, Ludicrous, etc. as they come together for one last job...again. Also joining the crew is Gina Carano as Hobbs' assistant (and my future wife) who is apparently given free rein to go MMA on everyone she sees fit. And returning (because she's got nothing better to do) is Michelle Rodriguez, in a storyline less focused on, the better.
Synopsis: Duhhhhhh.Fast cars go fast.
Why the movie works: This is clearly Lin's best visual stab at the franchise yet, as he not only creates the best things-blow-up climax to come out of any of these films, but also (for the second time in a row) gives his audiences exactly what they came to see. Lin does a brilliant job of making sure there is either a car driving fast, a woman in a bikini, or the Rock giving someone the people's eyebrow and spouting off something fantastically WWE-ish, on the screen at all times. In fact, he has done so well with guiding this franchise into the realm of highly entertaining B movie fluff, that it is a wonder why he is being replaced by horror director James Wan for the upcoming "Fast & Furious 7".
Side Note: I realize Lin did direct both "The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift" and "Fast & Furious" as well, but let's be honest, those movies are better left forgotten.
Final Thought: Aside from the fact that "Fast & Furious 6" is a tad too long, that Vin Diesel still calls what he does acting, that there is an odd body distortion phenomenon which happens when Diesel and The Rock stand next to each other and that the storyline doesn't really matter (especially the more sentimental sections) I'm not ashamed to say that I was thoroughly entertained as I walked out of the theater. And while I realize that this is a lot to look past, if you are the type to spend your hard earned money on a movie entitled "Fast & Furious 6"; a movie which is filled with unbelievable, yet well constructed, high flying, auto-centric stunts and enough comic relief to get the casual fan through, then this installment is clearly worth watching.
Written by Markus Robinson, Edited by Nicole I. Ashland
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