Could have been so much better

Rating: 4/10 (13 May 2011)

I am a big fan of action movies, and I know that when it comes to this genre, the viewer has to go in knowing that the script will be corny, the actors will most likely be sub-par, and the stunts will be partially unrealistic. I also know what's great about action movies; the camera work, the explosions, the gun fights, and the adrenaline. Unfortunately,I feel that Fast Five gives the action genre a bad name. Let me start with the script. I rolled my eyes so many times that they started to feel sore. The worst line was probably, "This ain't mission impossible! It's mission in-freaking-sane!" Oh dear God, that one hurt.
Secondly, the acting talents of the lead characters were significantly overshadowed by one terrible actor. That's right, you guessed it- Dwayne Johnson. He should have stuck to wrestling. He was a stiff, robotic, constantly grimacing steroid with legs. His fight scene with Dom consisted of nothing but Vin being thrown through fake walls and glass (over and over again), followed by some oddly homo erotic flexing of both actors pectoral muscles while looking into each others eyes.
The story is just as flawed as the acting. While I enjoyed the little family reunion of characters from the previous films, the plot they are involved in is filled with so many holes. I will only mention the two big ones. First of all, Dom and Brian manage to pull an industrial sized bank vault out of a building using only souped up cars. This is not only completely ridiculous, but totally impossible without more powerful engines and traction on their side. It doesn't stop there though...next they drag the vault at top speed through Rio, using it as a weapon against the cops. Later on the vault is pulled at the same velocity by only one car. Come on. They couldn't have insulted our intelligence as an audience more.
The biggest plot hole is the point where the two federal agents (Johnson and the token female agent) join up with Dom and Brian. I was so lost at this point...why would they suddenly decide that they should trust their criminal prey and work with them especially after: -The group is suspected of murdering the officers on the train. -Their racing buddies pull guns on said agents. -They drive through Rio with a vault killing not just corrupt cops, but innocent bystanders and cause a great deal of property damage. Just saying.
The worst part of the ending was seeing Dom walk across the beach with the female agent. Really? They just had to give him a love interest, didn't they? He should have ended up with The Rock. They would've been a cuter couple.