Pretty, but soulless with it

Rating: 5/10 (1 February 2014)

I have to say I was disappointed by FAST FIVE. I've been deriving minor enjoyment from these movies since they began, and I'd heard good things about this movie; how it had less CGI, how it was bigger, better and more intense as an action flick. Well, the good news is that it feels fresher in that it veers off in a slightly different direction in that it's not ALL about the car chases this time around, but it still feels lacklustre and less than the sum of its parts.
The problem with this film is that the franchise is just getting too big and too sluggish now. There are too many guys in the team, too many of whom are token ethnic or misplaced comic relief. It means that few of the principle cast get much screen time. Vin Diesel is hulking and kind, but never gets a chance to emote. The Rock, as the new participant, bags the best role, but really the film is about those two guys and that's it. Paul Walker seems bored and the likes of Sung Kang barely register.
The plot feels like something from the recent Italian Job and GONE IN 60 SECONDS remakes with the team assembling in Brazil to rip-off a drugs lord. Despite the huge budget and plethora of car-smashing stunts, it's never as exciting as I'd hoped it would be; the viewer feels detached from the action, set back and never as fully involved as he is in a really good action movie (like a Bourne film; I'm thinking in particular of the climactic car chase in THE BOURNE SUPREMACY). I'll keep watching these, but I hope number six gets a few more things right.