Vin Diesel vs The Rock.

Rating: 6/10 (22 July 2018)

Fast & Furious 5 steers the series even further away from 'car-porn' and into more accessible over-the-top summer blockbuster territory. This one even has The Rock in it!
The film opens as part four closed, with Dom's team rescuing their friend while he is en route to prison by orchestrating a bus crash that, in reality, would kill everyone inside. Of course, by now, reality has nothing to do with the Fast & Furious franchise: this is a preposterous slam-bang spectacle that would have left me with a big grin on my face if it hadn't been so drawn out. At well over two hours, part 5 is at least thirty minutes longer than it needed to be. Trim the fat and it might have been the most enjoyable one so far.
Anyway, with Dom free (and somehow devoid of any injuries), the action moves to Brazil where the team decide to pull another car robbery (from a speeding train, no less). Lots of mayhem ensues, with more death defying stunts, after which the crew discover a computer chip hidden inside one of the vehicles that details the activities of Rio De Janeiro's top crime lord. Armed with this information, the gang decide to pull one more heist: steal the bad guy's money - all $100million of it. Meanwhile, top US agent Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) is on their trail.
Unfortunately, the preparation for the daring raid is where things tend to drag (although we do get to see Gal Gadot in a small bikini, so it's not all bad). The film does, however, eventually culminate in one of the craziest heist scenes in cinema, with Dom and Brian dragging a humongous metal safe around the streets of Rio, laying waste to buildings and cars in the process. Oh, and there's a car with a mini-gun that pops out of the sun roof! All of this is mindless popcorn fun if you can check your sense of logic at the door on the way in - it's just a shame that getting there is a bit of a slog at times.