'FAST FIVE' gets 3.5 out of 5.

Rating: 7/10 (30 April 2011)

'FAST FIVE': Three and a Half Stars (Out of Five)
I was never a big fan of the original 'THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS' and thought it was severely over-hyped. With each sequel though I think the franchise has gotten better (although I never saw the third chapter: 'TOKYO DRIFT'). This one (for the first time) brings together key cast members from all of the other films including Vin Diesel (who sat out the second film and only did a cameo in the third), Paul Walker (who was absent from the third film), Jordana Brewster (who missed the second and third films) as well as Tyrese Gibson, Ludicrous, Matt Schulze, Sung Kang, Cal Gadot and Tego Calderon (who all co-starred in one or two of the other films). It also adds Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson to the cast and fans finally get to see a long anticipated fight scene between he and Vin Diesel. The film is directed by Justin Lin (who also directed the last two films) and written by Chris Morgan (who wrote the last two films as well). It all adds up to a pretty entertaining action film that should definitely please most fans of the genre as well as fans of the franchise.
The film opens directly where the last one left off with former FBI agent turned outlaw Brian O'Conner (Walker) and girlfriend Mia (Brewster) breaking Mia's brother and Brian's buddy and partner in crime Dominic Toretto (Diesel) out of prison, by attacking the prison bus he's on. They then flee to Brazil and due to a botched car heist (where DEA agents are murdered) they're moved to the top of America's most wanted list. The baddest federal agent around, Lucas Hobbs (Johnson), is then put on assignment to track them down. O'Conner and Toretto then decide to pull one last big job on the crooked businessman, Hernan Reyes (Joaquim de Almeida), who framed them by stealing $100 million of his laundered money. They bring in a team of former associates to help them pull off the heist.
The movie is really predictable and the story and character development pretty routine but the action scenes are amazing. The film does drag a little in the middle, during the overlong heist setup part of the film but for the most part it's really fast paced and thrilling. The stunts are some of the best ever performed (probably) and the amount of sheer destruction in the film is astonishing. There are several scenes that seriously push the realm of logic and reality but it's all in good senseless fun. The Rock makes a cool addition to the series and the fight scene between him and Diesel doesn't disappoint. The film is most likely everything you think it's going to be and it delivers exactly what it promises. In that sense it's definitely a success and in my opinion at least a little better than all the others in the franchise (just adding the Rock makes it that much better).
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