Fast & Furious 5

Rating: 8/10 (13 February 2017)

After Brian and Mia help Dom Toretto escape from a prison transport the three of them flee to Rio de Janeiro where they meet Dom's old friend Vince. He has a job for them; steal some fast cars that are being transported by trainÂ… what none of them know is that the cars have been seized by the US DEA and the person wanting them stolen is local drug lord Hernan Reyes. It becomes apparent that they are only really after one of the cars. Dom and his friends take that car and discover why it is so important; the chip in the car's GPS system includes data that gives the location of all the locations where Reyes stores his ill earned money. Dom decides that they will steal the lot but before they do that they will have to assemble a team of specialists. He and Brian will also have to avoid capture by agent Luke Hobbs and his team who believe Dom and Brian were responsible for the deaths of DEA agents on the train.
This is a fine fifth instalment in this apparently endless franchise. This one is less about cars than the previous films although they obviously play a key role. Instead we get more conventional action with fighting, shootouts and finally an impressive heist. The action is nicely spread throughout the film and is suitably varied. It all leads to a spectacular, if somewhat unlikely, chase where Dom, Brian and the team race away from countless corrupt Rio cops and Reyes' men while dragging a massive vault through Rio leaving a trail of destruction as they go. Vin Diesel and Paul Walker have developed a great chemistry over course of the series and are on top form here. Dwayne Johnson is a welcome addition to the cast as Hobbs as is Elsa Pataky as Brazilian police officer Elena Neves; hopefully both will return in future instalments; the ending suggests that they probably will. The Rio setting is used well without overdoing the 'Tourist Board' shots. As well as great action there are some good laughs; the black guy claiming to be a while guy with a 'great tan' was hysterical as the line was so well delivered. I'd certainly recommend this film to anybody who loves over-the-top action but don't want anything too unpleasant.