Fast & Furious 6

Rating: 6/10 (31 July 2013)

Watched this one in the local multiplex, honestly I am not an avid fanboy of this money-maker franchise, I am even not an advocate of racing vehicles, but the turning point comes when FAST FIVE (2011, 7/10) surprisingly catapults itself into a new level of sensory entertainment with its roller coaster ride and triumphantly revives the series' mass appeal to a younger generation and has grossed a series-high income means it has yet overstayed its welcome.
Still helmed by Justin Lin, this 6th sequel reunites all the cast, including one of the "original four" Michelle Rodriguez, whose wacky insomnia and vague backstory stirs the most untenable veneer of the plot if one can excuse the physics-defying action sequences as an utmost drawing power to allure new genre lovers and retain its core audiences. So a large drawback of this one is it is solely made for one's eyes only, one should completely ignore what is the convoluted plot going on by the villain and his cohorts and plainly indulge oneself in the great stunt work to find it is worth your ticket.
Unequivocally it is a tough job for any writer to create new blood for the franchise since it allows very limited leeway to inspire from the original cast, and due to the aesthetic fatigue, sooner or later, a younger cast must be mustered so as to invigorate a healthy metabolism for the faded set pieces. In this one, the newcomer is a strapping Luke Evans as the main villain, whose temperament presages a brighter future as a leading man candidate in world cinema, but unfortunately this film is not his breakthrough, at most a stepping stone permits him to be seen by more people and hence enlarges his fan base.
Everyone else is pigeonholed with their respective task, Johnson bullies scumbags, Diesel emotionlessly sweet-talks with his comeback battle-axe, Walker retreats into a family man, Gibson and Ludicrous are the pair of cutups, the ass-kicking martial pro Carano is here for girl fights while Kang and Gadot cannot run away from their functional exit, which plausibly introduce another bankable name as the next villain for the next chapter, due next year and will be transferred to be under the reign of horror-genre whiz James Wan, let's pray for a miracle to sustain its longevity and if we are lucky enough, a better one next time!