Auto fans will be disappointed

Rating: 6/10 (2 June 2013)

I'm a huge fan of the F&F franchise, but this movie has taken the series 180 degrees in the wrong direction. The film is a great movie-going experience and worth every cent of the ticket price for a good time....but hardcore fans and auto enthusiasts like myself are going to be really disappointed with the film.
The production team spent a lot of time assembling some spectacular cars and used them very little. The current-gen Nissan GT-R is only seen for the first forty seconds or so of the movie. The cool, custom built "flip cars" are only used for one of the heist scenes despite being an important plot line for the film. But the major disappointment is the Mk1 Euro Escort, which we see glimpses of many times in the film, which only appears for about three or four minutes in a driving sequence, despite being one of the leading "cars" featured in the ads. And there is absolutely no explanation or feasible plot as to why Letty is driving around and smashing stuff up in an extremely rare, hand-manufactured, limited production Jensen Interceptor (which is really cool, but why does she have it?)
Advertising branding was a big turn-off as well - Paul Walker is seen wearing Carhartt shirts during half the movie, and both Snap-On Tools and Dodge must have paid big bucks to have their products front and center in so many of the scenes. It was distracting - what happened to the young crew of tuners from California who defined the car culture and lifestyle??? I like the new direction that the franchise is taking, but seriously...none of these guys would have been seen buying & racing Spykers, Paganis, and Lambos when they were busy talking trash on Ferraris and building Supras in the first film. I think the franchise has lost its way.