A return to form for the 'Fast & Furious' franchise

Rating: 7/10 (17 March 2012)

Very well shot with some truly spectacular driving stunts and special effects; the driving in this film is really excellent; hats off to all those involved in the stunt work! As for performances, well everybody did a decent job; Vin Diesel as Dominic Toretto and Paul Walker as Brian O'Conner, reprising roles from previous instalments were just as good as they were in the first film. Jordana Brewster as Mia Toretto did a decent job, as did Dwayne Johnson as the no-nonsense cop, Luke Hobbs. Also worthy of note were; Tyrese Gibson as Roman Pearce, Ludicrous as Tej Parker, Matt Schulze as Vince and Joaquim de Almeida as Hernen Reyes.
You'd have thought a film about big men driving fast cars wouldn't be all that appealing, but this one does have a bit of something about it. No, it's not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but it is entertaining in its own way and I can't knock it for that. The stunt work is excellent and the plot isn't all that bad as either. It does, however, require some knowledge of at least some of the previous films involving the main characters though. It works quite well as a caper/heist movie with a bit of an edge to it, although I did find a little too much time was spent with the 'good guys'. The city of Rio features very prominently and, for me, was also a bit of a star of the show. Over all, although it's not a great film, it's an entertaining film and one I have no problem in deeming Recommended.
My Score: 7.2/10 IMDb Score: 7.3/10 (based on 105,098 votes at the time of going to press).
Rotten Tomatoes 'Tomatometer' Score: 78/100 (based on 180 reviews counted at the time of going to press).
Rotten Tomatoes 'Audience' Score: 83/100 (based on 104,318 user ratings counted at the time of going to press).
You can find an expanded version of this review on my blog: Thoughts of a SteelMonster.