Packed wall-to-wall with breathtaking action sequences, this fifth entry is easily the most thrilling and the best of the 'Fast and Furious' franchise

Rating: 8/10 (1 May 2011)

Unless you're "Harry Potter", franchises rarely have much gas left in their tank by their fourth instalment, let alone their fifth. But two years ago, the "Fast and Furious" franchise defied its slow but sure decline by reuniting the original stars of the first movie that made it such a runaway success ten years ago, thus finding its groove once again and speeding away with the best box-office results the series has enjoyed.
To prove their success then wasn't just a fluke, the stars- Vin Diesel and Paul Walker- are back at it again with a fifth-quel, and you know what- it's even faster, even more furious than anything the franchise has done. Yes, dear fans of fast cars, hot babes and most of all brawny men, "Fast Five" takes the hallmarks of the franchise and brings it to a whole new level. It's the best "Fast and Furious" movie by far, an adrenaline shot of pure guilt pleasure that promises and delivers white-knuckle thrills and edge-of-your-seat excitement.
Certainly that's the expectation thanks to an exhilarating opening sequence where our favourite recalcitrant criminal Dominic Toretto and his newly-minted criminal associate Ryan O'Connor are off stealing luxury race cars on board a moving train. Besides federal agents, Dom and O'Connor also have to contend with double-crosses and oh, a looming bridge. So when you have our heroes leaping out of a speeding car while plunging into a ravine, you know you better buckle up for the ride you're going to be in for.
A memory jolt for those who may have forgotten- Dom was arrested at the end of the last movie, and was sentenced without parole to 25 years in federal prison. But where's the fun in having him behind bars? So en route to a maximum security prison, Dom's transport is promptly ambushed by Ryan and his girlfriend Mia (Jordana Brewster). The trio end up in Rio, where said daring midday heist occurs and lands them on the wrong side of Rio's most feared criminal kingpin Reyes (Joaquim de Almeida).
True to Dom's nature, he seizes it as an opportunity to do one big score and then go off to relax. With this nifty twist, screenwriter Chris Morgan (also the writer of the previous three films) turns what used to be a movie around the confines of the underground street racing circuit into a heist movie. Morgan also does an Ocean's Eleven as Dom assembles just about every supporting character who has appeared in one of the franchise's films for his latest crew- including Roman (Tyrese Gibson), Tej (Chris 'Ludacris' Bridges), Han (Sung Kang) and Gisele (Gal Gadot).
The chemistry between the returning cast and characters is delightful, and Morgan reserves the best zingers in his script for their banter. New additions Tego Calderón and Don Omar also add to the fun, their mutual riffs on Tej that exploit the language barrier between the two Americans simply hilarious. Of course, the highlight of this movie is really the introduction of just about the most badass F.B.I. agent from up North, Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson), sent into Rio to apprehend Dom and O'Connor.
The relentlessness of Johnson's Hobbs is a good foil against the arrogance of Diesel's Dom, and their subsequent mano-a-mano no-holds-barred fistfight that results is brutally efficient. Indeed, watching Diesel and The Rock go up against each other is worth the price of admission itself, because there simply is no one bigger, badder and balder than Diesel. It's a duel made in action heaven, and director Justin Lin milks it for every punch, kick and body-smash it is worth.
But Lin isn't content to rest on the laurels of his hulking action stars. A footchase across rooftops and down alleyways of the crowded, crime-ridden hillside favelas (neighborhoods) of Rio surpasses the sheer adrenaline that Jason Bourne induced in "The Bourne Ultimatum", and makes great use of its locale's backdrop. The finale, though, is quite something in itself and beats anything that Lin has done, or for that matter, anything that you have seen so far in the "Fast and Furious" franchise. We're not about to spoil the surprise for you here, but suffice to say that it will go down as one of the most breathtaking car chase sequences in cinematic history.
And with that, "Fast Five" has more than about justified its existence by being a souped-up, pumped-up, revved-up action movie that floors its throttle from the get-go and doesn't let up for a full two hours. Yes, there are times when the dialogue borders on laughable, especially when Morgan tries to give his characters- Dom in particular- more depth and some semblance of character development.
But this is not a movie that you watch for those things, and a franchise that was built on these things- rather "Fast Five" is about revving engines, crashing cars, brawny men and hot babes and on every one of these counts, it delivers spectacularly. We guarantee you by the time the end credits roll with a sneak peek of where the franchise is headed to next, you'll be cheering for the sixth "Fast and Furious" film.