Ocean's 11 meets F&F

Rating: Null/10 (3 November 2011)

Overall, this film is another entertaining chapter in the F&F franchise. I enjoyed it, but less than than its immediate predecessor. Where this movie falls short for me is in the ensemble cast aspect. It seems like the production company tried to stretch this episode against the canvas of an "Ocean's 11" type story (big cast, "switcheroo" plot), and as a result only a couple of the peripheral characters get to stand out and actually mean something to the story or the audience. Most noticeably, Elsa Pataky (as Officer Elena Neves) and Gal Gadot (returning as Gisele Harabo from Fast & Furious) assume roles on opposite sides of the law - but any roundness that could be lent to their characters seems lost in a cast that is way too large. The two actresses are similar enough in appearance that, as a result, I had to really struggle to find context to know which character was on screen at any given time. Dwayne Johnson steps in and provides a "larger than life" tough guy whose character is somewhat predictable. Via teaser information revealed in a scene at the end of the credits, the story ends up serving to largely be an intricate set up for the next movie. I guess it depends on the story line and how they plan to accommodate the passage of time, but it seems that they would be best served by completing this next chapter sooner rather than later - everyone is getting older and as the youthful element drains from the production, the concept starts to look even sillier than it started out to be.