Another episode of a successful movie series; the fifth and likely not the last.

Rating: 8/10 (11 October 2011)

Read the full IMDb Storyline of Fast Five to get an overview of the plot. In my well founded opinion, to start with, this fifth episode is the first to have a realistic bridging of the ending of the previous episode and the setup for this current episode, the one with the highest rating of all five so far; it works well and immediately engages the hesitant audience who want nothing more than a believable continuation.
All the action sequences of this fifth episodes are well done, very well done in fact, and do not suffer from inconsistent CGI and Fx quality, present in prior episodes; here, the quality is superior and effective throughout, a big plus and one I'm convinced contributed to the 7.4 rating (at time of my review). The cast which featured characters from all prior four episodes was another simple but sure way to maximize the production value. The last action sequences where the Dominic Toretto group pull their most daring and smartest heist is a gem. You'll want to replay that over.
Let me provide you with some overview of the characters and the series so you can have an idea of where I believe the next sequel(s) will take us. The Fast and The Furious Original (2001) (rated 6.1), 2 Fast and 2 Furious (2003) (rated 5.2), The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006) (rated 5.6), Fast & Furious (2009) (rated 6.4) and finally "Fast Five (2011) (rated 7.4). -Vin Diesel as Dominic Toretto in 2001, 2006(only as a brief closing scene consolidating his series value), 2009 and 2011. -Paul Walker as Brian O'Conner in 2001, 2003, 2009 and 2011. -Michelle Rodriguez as Letty in 2001, in 2009 (believed to have died in 2009), is in the 2011 ending, taunted to be alive (via a current dated picture) for the implicit sixth episode we should expect. -Jordana Brewster as Mia Toreto in 2001, in 2009 and 2011. -Tyrese Gibson as Roman Pierce in 2003 and in 2011. -Ludacris as Tej in 2003 and 2011. -Tego Calderon as Bandoleros in 2006 and as Tego in 2011. -Matt Schulze as Vince in 2001 and 2011 (dies). -Sung Kang in his role as Han from the 2006 and 2011. -Gal Gadot as Gisele in 2009 and in 2011. -Eva Mendes as Monica Fuentes in 2003 and appears as same at the end of 2011 along with Dwayne Johnson in the brief scene that leads to believe there will likely be a 6th episode. -Dwayne Johnson as Luke Hobbs introduced in 2011 near the middle of the 2011 film; at the end with Eva Mendes are taunted to appear in the sixth episode.
I look forward to episode 6 and 7, which no doubt will feature at least Dwayne Johnson, Eva Menendez, Vin Diesel and hopefully Michelle Rodriguez for episode 6. I will venture a guess that episode could maintain a rating of 7 if the same writers and director of the last two episodes can hire the same special Fx and CGI bunch; the success of Fast Five should help the producers secure an adequate budget for the 6th episode. I trust, as evidenced by the 7.4 rating of 'Fast Five' that both episode 6&7 due to be produced in 2012, will be. I'm a fan who can now openly admit to it. Watch "Fast Five", perhaps you can become a fan as well. I don't mind commercial success if the quality holds up.