The pinnacle of its franchise

Rating: Null/10 (17 May 2020)

I think it's safe to say that it's Fast Five where The Fast and the Furious saga finally found its groove. It managed to keep all that was good about the franchise beforehand and combine it with the high stakes adrenaline rush of an international caper spy genre.
The returning goodness still culminates in Paul Walker and Vin Diesel playing Brian O'Conner and Dominic Toretto, two street racing experts who are set to face the world no matter what it throws at them. Plus, you know, fast cars, hot women, killer soundtrack. All that good stuff. Plus Jordana Brewster as Mia Toretto. What's not to like.
But then the new good stuff. First of all, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson as a hardened federal agent going after Brian and Dom. Fantastic casting that allows you just that hint of incredulity. Because, you know, The Rock is larger than life.
But this film also sees the return of many side characters from previous films. Gal Gadot as Gisele, Sung Kang as Han, Tyrese Gibson as Roman, and so on. All beloved characters, brought together at last to pull off a heist. Which was a great genre for this franchise to evolve into.
If I had to gripe about something, I'd say the villain is really forgettable. And I'm not talking about Johnson's character. I'm talking about the mob boss, the target of the heist. Can't even remember his name. Still, he's not the most important part of the movie. Not even close.
Fast Five is everything a good Fast & Furious film should be and then some. My personal favourite.