Vin diesel and family bring a non stop thrill ride

Rating: 8/10 (8 April 2015)

By now the Fast & Furious franchise was made in the eyes of Hollywood, following a massive box office haul for Fast Five, the picture that saw Justin Lin begin the transition from street racing car movie series to explosive action heist franchise, a transformation so many other series' would never be able to pull off five movies in. This one did and, remarkably, the films began to improve in quality - in that regard, Fast & Furious 6--arguably the most bonkers and joyously fun outing for the franchise to date--is the pinnacle of a series seemingly immune to the law of diminishing returns, where Vin Diesel, the late Paul Walker and their crew only seem to become more likable, more charming and more watchable as the franchise grows more confident, more explosive and more wonderfully insane by each film. This is the one where Lin, right from the off, lets everything off the chain - you'll be hard pushed to find anything made for the last few decades that's as gleefully, knowingly dumb, fun and exciting as Fast & Furious 6. For that, it's almost entirely a joy.
What was originally known as Fast Six (a better title, arguably) was pre- visualised and written by Lin and series' writer Chris Morgan almost in tandem with the previous picture, hence that movie's post-credits reveal that Michelle Rodriguez's Letty was alive and well, and indeed seemingly had taken a dark turn, after apparently being blown to smithereens two films ago. Her reappearance sparks Diesel's gruffalo Dominic Toretto and his crew--now all freshly minted millionaires after their Rio heist in the last film--to this time team up with The Rock's badass DEA agent Hobbs in tracking down & bringing to heel the terrorist who seemingly has her captive - Luke Evans in full smarm mode as callous Brit-baddie Owen Shaw. Much like Joaquín de Almeida's limp drug baron in Fast Five, he's the villainous weak link here; Lin never much bothers to make him all that menacing and up against beasts of men like Diesel & The Rock, you need a strong villain. No matter because the picture has its eyes elsewhere - yes admittedly the attempts at injecting drama as Diesel monosyllabically tries to protect his 'family', but at the same time the humour and charm is plentiful amongst an ensemble who are very at ease with one another, nobody showboating to gain the limelight but all getting their moments in the spotlight. But forget all that, there's stuff that needs exploding and boy does Lin have fun there - be it a thrilling chase through London in souped up formula one heist cars, a truly insane freeway chase involving a runaway tank and an even more bonkers climactic plane sequence with the longest runway in movie history (honestly, it must be ten miles long!) and a series of fights that culminate in Diesel, literally, executing a flying headbutt. My girlfriend, a huge fan of Diesel and the franchise, admitted she didn't know whether to laugh or cheer. The simple solution is you do both, and Lin actively encourages it.
While the end seems to resolve proceedings in a barbecue tinted bow, Fast & Furious 6 then unleashes a wonderful stinger of a post-credits sequence that not only resolve a bizarre continuity niggle (which has basically meant films four, five & six are effectively set before three weirdly) but tees up a thrilling and very recognisable menace for the next picture, which could possibly send a franchise already soaring with gleefully nonsensical and thoroughly enjoyable bravado into the stratosphere. The way it's heading, we are surely destined Fast & Furious 10 to see a geriatric Diesel & The Rock battling alien invaders orbiting the Earth. We can only hope.