"And why can't we drag a safe through downtown Rio behind our cars?"

Rating: 6/10 (21 May 2011)

Despite looking and sounding like a hung-over gorilla, Vin Diesel is actually among the smarter action stars around. He launched his own career, writing, directing and producing "Multi-Facial" (the movie that impressed Spielberg enough to write a role for Diesel in Saving Pvt. Ryan). He's produced 3 of his biggest hits and cannily passed on appearing in shitty sequels to the XXX and Fast and Furious franchises. He even passed on Hit-man! Yes, look let's just forget about Babylon AD for a minute, I'm trying to make a case for the guy here.
When Diesel returned to F&F in the 4th movie, he did so as producer, and brought back the mojo the franchise had lost. Fast Five builds on that mojo, and is much better than its predecessor, largely because of the clever casting decision to bring back charismatic actors from previous installments and Ocean's Eleven-ify the movie. The ensemble cast takes some of the pressure off Diesel and helps us ignore Paul Walker. If you've seen 2Fast 2Furious, you'll agree that Walker isn't exactly the beating heart of the franchise. And despite Diesel's star status, his Dom Toretto (little more than a crook-with-a-heart-of-gold stereotype) cannot shoulder the weight of the entire series alone.
So we see Tyrese Gibson, Ludicrous, Gal Gadot and Sung Kang reprising their roles from the various sequels (if you haven't seen them, you're not missing much character background - what you see here is pretty much all you get, with these guys), with Elsa Pataky and the Rock thrown in for added sex appeal.
I could tell you about the plot, but really, do you care? Let's get to the important stuff. The Dodge Charger returns. Dom and O'Connor boost a bunch of cars off a moving train, blow it up, then drive one of them off a cliff in a spectacular set piece. There is the obligatory nighttime car race through city streets between the four male leads (Walker still nursing his bruised ego from an earlier loss in the 4th movie). And there's a ridiculous but somehow thrilling car chase finale, where the team pulls off a daring heist against every law of physics and logic (giving new meaning to the term "drag racing").
Continuing its self-improvement efforts, the movie diversifies the action offerings of the franchise with a car ambush (reminiscent of Clear and Present Danger), a pulse-pounding gun fight and rooftop chase through Rio's favelas (a new favourite setting for Hollywood action vehicles) and some mano-a-mano wrestling between the two bald repositories of testosterone that headline the cast.
I should warn you, the Rock is almost laughably bad in this movie. He lumbers around in a T shirt he appears to have borrowed from his infant son, barks orders at his long suffering team, shoots strangers indiscriminately and generally appears miserable. You would too, if your last movie had been 'Faster'. We know that he's a Federal Agent (because uh, he said so) and has sworn to take Diesel down, presumably because he resents that 'The Pacifier' trumped 'The Tooth Fairy' at the box office. The much touted shiny headed face-off between these two, when it comes, is actually a bit of a let down - the Rock seems worn out by the sheer amount of time he's spent chasing Diesel around Rio .
It's all good fun, and there's never a dull moment, not even when Walker is blathering about the responsibilities of fatherhood. Diesel steps in and adds a strangely credible presence to this, and the other slower, talky scenes, sensing this is where the movie really needs the clout (such as it is) of his masculine persona. He then steps back to let the good lookin', fast talking' cast do its work elsewhere.
And the girls? Israeli actress Gal Gadot is done with her national service and looks even hotter than she did in the last F&F movie (or in Date Night). She flaunts her languid curves in a negligible bikini, making a strong case for peace in the Middle East. Elsa Pataky pouts and does the best she can in her sexy cop outfit, which is less suited for law enforcement than for a Halloween sorority party. Her attempt to one-up Gadot in the curve flaunting department is foiled when Diesel rudely interrupts her just as she's taking off her tank top. Diesel reminds her (as he did Gadot in the last movie) that he's still pining for Letty (Michelle Rodriguez), then leaves. But Letty is dead! Isn't she? All I'll say is, stay until after the credits. It features a cameo by another curvy character from a previous installment. And introduces a cliffhanger that suggests exciting revelations in a future installment.
If you're not well past being curious after 5 movies, that is.