Quirky humor and insane set pieces overcome its shoddy plot

Rating: 6/10 (23 May 2013)

While it doesn't reach the same height as Fast Five, the newest and most ludicrous installment of the franchise thus far still packs a lot of noisy high octane entertainment in its engine. With increasingly expanding star-studded cast, Fast & Furious 6 exhibits a lot of value by just pinning these familiar names together in scenes, despite some of the script they use doesn't really work. It has good amount of humor, and also highly dubious amnesia plot. Quite frankly, it does its best when it doesn't try to be serious.
Starring buff gents and ladies, almost everyone on-screen has weighty name, although they are heavily leaning towards action oriented rather than acting, which might've been the direction from the start. Plot revolves around Vin Diesel trying to woe the amnesic Michelle Rodriguez, thus involving the crew into a shady military operation in the process. It gives what people want in spade, the bridging between set pieces is fairly clumsy, but it does pay off with ridiculous amount of flying cars and bodies.
Surprisingly enough, there are plenty of melee brawl across the movie. The addition of Gina Carano, the MMA star, is a good choice, she brings the rawness in these scenes. Several others will join the fray in close combat, obvious if they have The Rock and Vin Diesel it'd be a waste not to. However, there are some stunts that borderline corny and unrealistic, even by Fast and Furious standard, many wiring might look awkward as well. It's not a major concern, but I prefer the more structured natural stunts rather the high flying ones.
Chasing scenes have been up-scaled, bringing ramp cars, tank and whatnot into the mix. Apparently, there's demand for even more over-the-top driving scenes to fulfill. This is where it truly shines, fast motion, carnage all around and seemingly impossible traits. The building up and finish are somewhat imbalance, sometimes resorting to incredibly odd coincidences. Script works adequately, some of its jokes are better than others, and definitely league ahead compare to the supposedly more dramatic scenes.
Fast & Furious goes extra miles for crowd enjoyment. Action junkies or car enthusiast will be pleased, however the result is less organized pace. The movie is a blast, even if there are shortcomings, catering directly to the core audience.
Rate 6.5