Hail, hail the gang's all here - but now minus one

Rating: 9/10 (12 December 2013)

Mixed emotions his the viewer seeing FAST AND FURIOUS 6 for the first time knowing that Paul Walker is gone and wondering what will happen with the in process Fast and Furious 7. But in ways that fact makes this movie more treasured. It is a whoop-'em up fast action packed film that takes your breath away with the wild car chases and one the ground derring- do. Writer Chris Morgan and director Justin Lin have this medium down to a predictable but fine science.
The plot is fairly simple (as usual) allowing the telling of the story to be more important than any big philosophical notions. Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson, with even larger biceps varices!) has Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) and Brian O'Connor (Paul Walker) reassemble their crew (Jordana Brewster, Tyrese Gibson, Ludicrous, Sung Kang) in order to take down mastermind Shaw (Luke Evans) who commands an organization of mercenary drivers across 12 countries. Payment? Full pardons for them all. The big driver is to 'rescue' Letty (Michelle Rodriguez), who seems to be with Shaw's group after suffering amnesia, back into their fold. Wild situations abound and they are as exciting as ever – if not more so!
Definitely worth watching even for those who are not long term F & F fans. It is a terrific action film with sparkling actors having a great time. Grady Harp December 13