A Fantastic Summer Thrill Ride

Rating: 8/10 (27 April 2011)

Personally, I have never been a huge fan of the Fast and the Furious franchise. The first film was a fun piece of dumb popcorn entertainment, bolstered by strong action, some awesome stunts and Vin Diesel's intimidating presence. Then Diesel vanished, and the series took a downward dive in "quality". I really disliked 2 Fast 2 Furious, and I hated the third instalment, Tokyo Drift. Diesel's return in the fourth film, Fast and Furious, signalled a definite improvement over 2 and 3, but still didn't match the original. So it's fair to say that I went into Fast Five with mixed expectations. And I'm pleased to say that I came out with a smile on my face.
The plot for this one goes a little something like this. Picking up from the ending of the last film. Brian O'Connor (Paul Walker) and Mia Torretto (Jordana Brewster) free Dom Torretto (Diesel) from the transport taking him to prison. Next time we see them, they're hiding out in Rio. However, when a job goes badly wrong, they find themselves being hunted by corrupt businessman Herman Reyes (Joaquim de Almeida). To get both payback and freedom, they call on other characters from the series (Roman Pearce (Tyrese Gibson) and Tej (Chris "Ludicrous" Bridges) from 2 Fast, Han from Tokyo Drift etc) to help them in a bid to steal of Reyes' money. However, they're also being chased by tough-as-nails Federal Agent Luke Hobbs (Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson), who's never lost a convict
Simply put, Fast Five is a near-perfect piece of summer entertainment. I was hugely surprised by just how pumped up this film left me feeling. I walked out of the cinema feeling energetic and excited, something which I truly didn't expect when I walked into the cinema to watch it. When a summer movie makes me have that kind of reaction to it, I personally think that it has done a great job. When we go to a summer movie, first and foremost we want to be entertained. That is something that Fast Five achieves in spades.
That is mostly due to the insane action sequences and stunts in this movie. The stunt team deserve BIG props for some of the things we see on screen here. Right from the get-go, when we see a bus collide with a car and flip while the car is pretty much unscathed, the filmmakers are telling you to leave your brain at the door. If you can do that, the action in here is fantastic. If you're looking forward to some street racing though, you may be disappointed. An early train robbery is brilliantly paced, edited and loud; if you're a fan of the series, the carnage will leave a huge grin on your face. If you're a newcomer, just embrace the absurdity and your grin will be almost as wide. A nicely- done foot chase through the favelas quickly follows, although it does bear unfavourable comparisons to a similar, better executed scene from The Incredible Hulk. But in the final 45 minutes, the filmmakers slam the accelerator on this baby. There's a fist fight between Diesel and Johnson which is worth the ticket price alone, a gunfight which echoes Black Hawk Down and the final, awesomely implausible chase, with two cars dragging a safe (no, I'm not going mad) the size of a wrecking ball through the streets of Rio. It's audacious, spectacular and fun as hell. If you are one of those unstoppable cynics, you will probably walk out at this point, tutting as you go. If you just go for the ride, you'll have a blast. I was personally grinning like the Cheshire Cat.
But the most surprising thing for me was how much I enjoyed the scenes between the action set-pieces. Whereas the acting is nothing spectacular, all of the returning actors have settled into their roles by now and have an unforced, easy-going relationship with each other. I actually really liked the good guys in this, and I wanted them to succeed. Tyrese Gibson and Ludicrous, in particular, are hilarious, their rapport with each other and the other members of Dom's crew providing a lot of great laughs throughout. There are a surprising amount of witty, funny one-liners, and most of them go to these two. Walker is decent (if still a bit wooden), and Brewster, as well as being astonishingly beautiful, actually does a effective job of making Mia a vulnerable yet strong character, instead of just window dressing. Diesel, as always, brings his dominant presence to bear; you can immediately sense why the rest of the gang is willing to face these risks for him. As the new villain, de Almeida is suitably slimy and nasty enough to make you want to see the gang beat him. But the big introduction in this movie is obviously that of The Rock. Striding into the movie like a testosterone- driven bloodhound, The Rock puts all of those shameful kid flicks such as The Game Plan and The Tooth Fairy behind him and returns to his masculine roots, sliding effortlessly into the series and delivering a new jolt of life in the process.
Overall, Fast Five delivered almost everything I wanted from a summer movie. There are problems; the street racing sequences feel like afterthoughts, the relationship between Dom and a Brazilian cop (Elsa Pataky) isn't developed enough whilst the filmmakers use a few too many panning shots across an otherwise beautiful Rio. But other than that, director Justin Lin, the cast and crew have delivered a hugely entertaining action flick. Based on the mid-credits clip, there might be a sequel. I never thought I'd say this, but if this is one, I will definitely go and see it. Summer is off to a flying start.