Non-Stop Fun

Rating: 7/10 (6 December 2014)

Immediately after Fast and Furious, Fast Five has the core gang helping bust Dom out of a stint in prison and then escape to Rio. Upon getting there they meet up with Vince from the first film and get into a lot of trouble, putting them in the sights of the kingpin of Rio crime as well as a federal agent, played by the Rock, who believes that Dom and O'Conner were responsible for the death of some DEA agents.
We're back to the second film as far as the opening goes. Everyone's escaping the police and, once again, Brian is a turncoat and should never have been trusted in the first place. The group winds up obtaining a microchip containing the location of all the kingpin's money drops and leads them to set up a hit to get all the money. Pretty much the entire cast returns to do the job, including Tej, Roman, and Han.
The movie starts heavy with great action and then slows down for the set-up of the heist. Typically this middle slump is where the films fall apart and become an exercise in waiting. But Fast Five is very enjoyable because of the return of all our favorite characters. These are still pretty bare-bones creations, but they play off each other well and lead to some fun banter.
The Rock makes his debut in the Fast franchise and is excellent. He's exactly what you'd want for a hard federal agent. If anyone is a shining star in this film, it's Johnson.
And unlike previous movies, the action in this film is entertaining and doesn't fall flat at any point. The final scene, in which two cars pull a bank vault through the streets of Rio, is absolutely ridiculous and stupid but it's the best scene the series has to offer so far.
Fast Five changes the focus of the films from racing to being cheesy action movies. This is the point where traditional Fast fans started to turn away. But for me, this marks the beginning of something that could be good. I was thoroughly entertained and that's something I can't say about any of the other films. The focus has changed to a place it obviously should have been to start.
Fast Five breaks the franchise out of the slog of mediocrity and gives it its first truly good film.