London Baby!

Rating: 6/10 (31 May 2013)

Who would have thought back in 2001 that The Fast and the Furious would somehow because a movie series that would last to six movies with a seventh on the way? Even more surprising the Fast and Furious series has become of the premier action series and being one of Universal Studios' biggest cashcows.
After the Rio heist all of Dom Toretto (Vin Diesel) and his crew have gone their separate ways and now multi-millionaires. But despite longing for a quiet life they are brought back into action when Diplomatic Security Service Agent Luke Hobbs (Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson) gets the crew to help him stop a former British SAS officer turned mercenary Owen Shaw (Luke Shaw) who has been target military convoys in Europe to make a tech bomb. Hobbs has a big incentive for Toretto to go back into action by having proof his girlfriend and long-time love Letty Ortiz (Michelle Rodriguez) is still alive and working for Shaw. With the crew in London car chases and fighting eschews.
The appeal of The Fast and Furious films since Justin Lin has taken over the direction of the series has been his championing of practical effects. Whilst there is some CGI (which isn't particularly good) Fast 6 is still a feat of stunt work, fight sequences and in camera effects. Lin does know how to direct an action sequences, giving us an excellent car chase in London, the tank chase in its full ridiculousness and the final sequence involving a military transport plane (even if it takes place on the world's longest runway). Gina Carano and Joe Taslim from Haywire and The Raid were both added to the cast, bringing their fighting talents to the series and they are fine additions. Taslim has an excellent fight with Tyrese Gibson and Sung Kang in Waterloo Station (though it wasn't really filmed in Waterloo Station). I was disappointed by the fight between Carano and Rodriguez but that is because of the fight was shown in the trailers and it was intercut to much with the Taslim fight.
Fast and Furious 6 has a massive cast with some members getting more attention then others. The big winners were Diesel and Johnson; both are massive screen presence with charisma and have the action chops. Johnson steals the shows once again, being a mass of muscle with one-liners and plenty of action ability: it is impressive the casting director was able to find a man bigger then The Rock so the pair could fight. Walker is his usual bland self and Joanna Bowster gets the shaft again, this time holding the baby. Carano is a woman of action and little words and Gibson is the comic relief to the point he was a bit annoying.
A problem with the series has been the villains have been lacklustre. Evans is a man who is servable in the role and he is the best villain so far simply because he does feel more of a threat because he is a man of action himself, getting involved in the frontline, being a driver and a skilled martial artist: it is better then a middle aged crime lord with a load of heavies. But Fast 7 will have a better a villain with the post credit scene setting up the sequel.
Whilst the action seemed like a step up from the Fast Five, the story is so much sillier. The Fast and Furious series has never been know for being strong storytelling but at least with Fast Five it felt a believable that these characters would attempt a massive heist, but Fast and Furious 6 was much more of a stretch just to reunite the team and get them working with Hobbs who has quickly become a fans favourite. The crew has shown to be expert investigators suddenly. We have American characters going round the more seedy side of London; they would be very noticeable very quickly. And as a Brit I do take it personally when the film used outdated stereotypes of British people like the snotty salesman.
Like Fast Five, Fast and Furious 6 is long and baggy, but this problem felt more prominent as the film tried to give anyone a moment to shine and there were sequences that could have been cut. One example is when O'Conner goes undercover in a prison in Los Angeles which was just a plot cul-de-sac and reference more to Fast and Furious (which was a forgettable entry). It needed a re-write to just tighten thinks up because the running time could have been under two hours. Fast and Furious 6 is surprising convoluted for what is supposed to be a simple action flick.
Funs of the series with be very satisfied with the sixth entry and on an action level it is solid. It is good to see practical effects in an action film. But it mindless and silly and it unlikely to appeal to detectors. Still the seventh film should be interesting just because of the villain.