Five By Five.

Rating: 9/10 (22 April 2011)

When I heard that a fifth film in the Fast And Furious franchise was getting made,I have to admit that my original feeling was one of mild interest at most.This is because I felt that when the third film in the series came out (Tokyo Drift) it seemed that the film makers had taken most of the energy out of the series,which made the film feel a lot less exciting than its predecessors.Whilst the fourth film gave the series a slight return to form,by bringing back some of the past cast members,the performances seemed to have lost something that was there in the first film,with Vin Diesels performance losing some of the charming cockiness that had made Dominic Toretto such a engaging character.When my friend saw some clips of the film,that showed The Rock was going to have a big role in the film,he (who is also a big fan of this series) was instantly looking forward to seeing this film.And for my self,I felt that since this was Rocks first "big budget" non-Disney film in a long time,and that it seemed from some of the clips I had seen that, the cast and crew had found their passion again for the series.This got me to start thinking the this was a film that could really surprise me...
plot: Arriving to Rio De Janeiro to meet up again with street-racer Dominic Toretto,who they have recently help escape from jail,Brian O'Conner and Dominics sister Mia are surprised to find that he is no where to be seen.When they visit one of there's (and Dominics) mutual friends (Vince),they are surprised to discover that Vince needs them to help him with a planned robbery of a very valuable car, that is being transported in a highly secure train.As the team start to ambush the train,Dominc makes a surprise arrival,and starts to help the others to literally rip a carriage of the train into two!.When the gang get on to the remaining parts of the train,they are shocked that along with the big amount of thugs that are trying to keep the car secure,there are also a good number of "off-duty" DEA agents there as well.Realiseing that time is running out,Vince tells the gang that they have to only steal one of the cars.Whilst the gang try to get away,three of the DEA agents are killed in the cross-fire between the thugs and Dominics gang.After having spilt up and seeming to be safe,Dominic and O'Conner are suddenly captured by the most powerful boss in the De Janeiro underworld (Hernan Reyes) who questions them for hours about where they have hidden the car,When they both at last escape from Reyes hideout,they go to meet up with Mia,whose been keeping the car hidden in a safe house.To an extremely angry Dominic,Vince gives everyone the shock announcement that he knew that Reyes would do everything he can to kill each member of the gang,so that he could get hold of the car again.Vince also tells them that Hernan does not want the car itself,but what is hidden inside it (a computer chip,which has all the details of Reyes money-laundering safe houses,which he partly uses to keep the police in his control)Hearing this,Dominic tells Vince that he can not be trusted and that he must leave the gang.Vince reluctantly does,as Dominic and everyone else start to get there old friends to join them,so that they can do a huge heist,by taking every penny of Reyes dirty money.But with Hernans money now being kept safe at the main police station ,and a DSS federal agent (Luke Hobbs) now searching for them,due to all of them being framed for the murders of the agents,this heist is going to be far from easy...
View on film: For the screenplay,writer Chris Morgan brilliantly changes the format of the series,by having the cops 'n' robbers storyline that has been the main plot (s) of the series,instead become a fun secondary story,with the main plot line instead being about a huge heist.Morgans brilliant script keeps the film moving at a fantastic pace, with the clever introduction of (all the main) characters from the last four films being woven together into a team that any viewers of the past films will be unable to not let a big grin go across their face,Morgan also smartly makes it that each member of the team plays a vital part in the mission going successfully. Whilst he may have reallied on CGI effects a bit too much the last few times,director Justin Lin brings the film back to it roots with a BANG.Although some of the things that are used for the heist (such as the pulling cables) seem to have come straight out of Chris Morgans script for Wanted,Lin makes the amazing action scenes extremely gripping by having the epic heist chase feel very rough and raw,with the beautiful Brazil location being completely destroyed into dust!.Although he sadly delivers his last few lines (which I hope are there to show that he will be returning for the next films)in a more joking manner,when the character really needed to show some real aggression,Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson is still able to give his best performance that I have seen from him in years,with Johnson making your eyes transfix on the screen,as he shows an unforgettable amount of charisma,that turned him into an icon in his previous job as, Luke Hobbs tears everything (and everyone) apart so that he can get closer to finding out about what is really happening in Rio.Along with having one of the best on screen fights of the year with Johnson,Vin Diesel gives a fantastic,real return-to-form performance as Dominic.Diesel shows that even though Dominic is older,he is still able to keep his quick-witted ideas and fearlessness burning,when everyone else has run out of fuel,although Diesel also smartly shows that Dominic is more open to listening to other peoples plans and compromising, than he ever was before.