You get what you expect, as long as you don't expect much

Rating: 6/10 (11 June 2013)

Movies from the Fast and Furious franchise always bring up the same problem. If the cars are fast enough and the explosions are big enough, is the fact that there are uninteresting characters and a brainless story irrelevant? After all, people see these movies for the action, and in the case of Fast Six, it delivers handily. But newcomers to the Fast and Furious world that long for an intelligent story in their movies may want to stay as far away as possible, because the plot in Fast Six is a dud. What it all boils down to is that the most loyal devotees of the franchise will find lots to enjoy, but it won't be making many new fans either. This really is a shame, especially because last year's Fast Five made me a believer in a film series I had long thought had no sign of life.
This isn't to say that the movie is terrible. In some ways it even exceeds Fast Five. Vin Diesel's (back as Dominic Toretto) stone-faced acting and deep monotone is an almost welcome sight at this point, as it has become a staple of the franchise; and Dwayne Johnson as Hobbs is as entertaining as ever. Like in all the Fast and Furious movies, the acting is best when the fists do the talking. The movie has some clever throwbacks to Johnson's wrestling days and just visualizing Vin Diesel's flying head-butt brings a smile to my face. An excellent call was made in casting Gina Carano as Hobb's partner Riley. She may have very few lines, but her fight scenes are incredible. If you haven't, see her in last year's Haywire which is tremendously underrated.
The dialog, which has often inflicted this franchise like a plague, has been greatly improved this time around. Don't be fooled, it still isn't great, but the clichés and bad jokes have for the most part been eradicated. One of the most impressive amendments the film makes is the strength of the banter between the principle cast, which is among the most glaring issues with its predecessors. This is especially true in regards to the back-and-forth antics of Roman (Tyrese Gibson) and Tej (Ludacris), both of which I had originally hoped they wouldn't bring back for this sequel. I was prepared to be annoyed by them, but was pleasantly surprised by their genuinely witty jokes. I also thought it was a smart move to not bring back every single character from the previous films. Fast Five was largely unsuccessful in juggling its many characters. This time, there's just the right amount of characters for the film to play with, so longtime fans needn't worry as most of their favorite characters are back and have more screen time.
The problems with Fast Six are rooted in its story that defies logic and the absurd melodrama and pointless twists that accompany it. The plot reads as nothing more than a bad soap opera with Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) being brought back from the dead and suffering from amnesia. The amnesia ends up playing out solely as a vehicle for inconsequential drama with no regard to the actual affects amnesia would have. Equally outrageous, is the film's villain Shaw (Luke Evans), who is the antithesis to everything Toretto believes and stands for. His motivations are as unoriginal as they come and his actions are so questionable you wonder how this guy was so hard to catch in the first place. Let's not forget he also has his own ragtag team of criminals that mirror Toretto's. It's not a compliment. The film even refers to them (out loud) as their evil twins, so you know in true melodramatic fashion, they each have to fight their own counterpart in the climax. I really do wish I was making all this up.
Far too often the film resides in sentimentality. Toretto constantly addresses how important his makeshift "family" is to him; a nice message for sure, but the constant reminders lessen the impact. In the film's most cringe worthy scene, Shaw argues the flaws of Toretto's belief, which begs the question of why he even cares. As is par for the course for the Fast and Furious movies, the characters have little depth. Only fans of the series can enjoy them, but only because they've been exposed to them for six films; it's merely a side effect.
If you can stomach the bad, the movie can be very rewarding. After all, this is an action film, and that is what it does best. The film has more of the physics defying action that is so beloved in the Fast and Furious universe. Particularly, the two set pieces in the last forty minutes, which include a tank AND a plane, are worth seeing the movie for alone. It reminded me of why I liked Fast Five so much. Because the best parts of the movie are crammed in at the end, the rest of the film suffers as a result. It would have been better to see something more grandiose in the first ninety minutes that would grab my attention and hold it throughout the film, similar to Fast Five. I got the impression that after how over-the-top fun Fast Five's ending was, director Justin Lin felt that the only way to up the ante was to make everything bigger. But part of the joy of Fast Five's climax was how wonderfully original it was conceived. It is proof that bigger isn't always better.
With all the highs and lows taken into account, Fast Six equates into nothing more than a noisy "OK". What is most frustrating of all is that after Fast Five injected some much needed energy into this lifeless franchise, that this one doesn't quite carry the torch. But with quite an intriguing cliffhanger (stick through the credits), I'm hopeful for next year's installment.