Fast Five (2011)

Fast Five

Storyline

Dominic and his crew find themselves on the wrong side of the law once again as they try to switch lanes between a ruthless drug lord and a relentless federal agent. –IMDb

Director:

Justin Lin

Writers:

Chris Morgan, Gary Scott Thompson (characters)

Stars:

Vin Diesel, Paul Walker and Dwayne Johnson

Genres:

 Action | Crime | Drama | Thriller
The franchise resurrects. The cast matures. The crew grows up. And, The Rock joins the gang. The derailed series is finally back on track since the original with upgrades in all the departments of film-making. if you think this is a movie with races, you’re wrong. Taking a different route this time, the film makers have transformed the street racing franchise into the heist action film which isn’t a bad thing, this transformation has worked wonders for the movie & the franchise. This franchise could use a fresh start and the big  difference was that they toned down showing off fast cars and beautiful women, Fast Five is more character driven and brings back a lot of characters from previous movies, included a nice surprise at the end.

I really went in with high expectations after watching the adrenalin pumping trailer, and came out with more than satisfied. It isn’t only the best installment in the series but is also one brilliant action film to come out in a while now. Fast Five is the genuine summer blockbuster of the year, without a doubt. Its the kind of big action, big Ka-pow movie that the audience doesn’t want to get bogged down in the details on if they just want to have fun. (Where’s all the money for stuff coming from, how’d that car do that, federal agents really have that on their computers, very rich criminals would really do that?) The situations these guys go through is unbelievable, we know that the way these characters drive they should all have died in the first Fast and Furious, but we know this is just a fun and entertaining franchise and we try to make peace with the screenplay as best we can because it is just fun to see these guys go at it. It’s fun to see them drive cars off a running train, or speed by busy streets without crashing into each other while at the same time avoiding all sorts of bullets and explosions. Fast Five might be the most unbelievable and improbable film of the franchise, but it is still the best one. While this movie doesn’t have much straight up street racing its got plenty of everything else. This is the one sequel where they got the action right on all aspects. Not much CGI at all unless it was so good you couldn’t tell.

The film picks up right where the fourth one left us, Brian (Paul Walker) and Mia (Jordana Brewster) are breaking Dominic (Vin Diesel) out of custody while he is being transported to jail. They successfully manage to free him, and all three of them become fugitives. They are forced to continually be on the run and end up in Rio de Janeiro with very little money left on them. In Rio they stay with Dom’s longtime friend from the first film, Vince (Matt Schulze), who is now living with his girlfriend and baby boy Nico. Vince tells Brian he has a job for them and since they are short on cash they have to accept. Unfortunately something goes wrong in the job and the guys make a new enemy: Hernan Reyes (Joaquim de Almeida), a corrupt businessman who owns the entire police force and gangsters in Rio. Now Dom and Brian have all the gangsters, the Brazilian police, and special Federal Agent Luke Hobbs (Dwayne ¨The Rock¨ Johnson) along with his elite team after them in beautiful Rio. Dom and Brian decide to pull off one last job in order to teach Hernan a lesson, but in order to do so they will need to assemble an elite team. That is where the rest of the crew from previous films come in. First we have Tej (Ludicrous) and Roman (Tyrese Gibson) from the first sequel, then there’s Han Lue (Sung Jang) from the Tokyo Drift film, and finally Gisele (Gal Gadot), Tego (Tego Calderon), and Rico Santos (Don Omar) are back from the latest installment. Together they hope to pull off one of the biggest heists of their lives worth 100 million dollars, but being able to pull it off doesn’t seem that easy.

Still of Vin Diesel and Dwyane " The Rock" Johnson in Fast Five

Performance-Wise: Vin Diesel & Paul Walker continue to be effective in their respectiveparts. Jordana Brewster is fair. Tyrese Gibson is first-rate and brings in a host of laughs in the goings-on. Ludicrous is good. Matt Schulze, Sung Kang & Gal Gadot are passable. Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson is absolutely superb in a strong supporting role. He imposes as a formidable rival. Here Johnson’s straight arrow persona leverages the story’s ultimate conflict.

Showcasing Director Justin Lin’s signature accelerated precision, Vin Diesel’s Dom races beside the speeding train as Paul Walker’s Brian leaps into Dom’s sports car. Their car immediately sways over a steep chasm into the river below. Diesel and Walker leap in midair out of the car, and plunge into the water. “Fast Five” is just great fun. Writer Chris Morgan’s story is better than the last “Fast and Furious”, which isn’t saying much. Then again we don’t see “Fast Five” for the narrative nuances. Non-stop action reigns supreme. Lin has a crisp vibrant visual style, and acumen for insane action. Lin has two cars racing through the streets of Rio dragging a bank vault unleashing mass destruction. Granted this is over the top, and completely original. “Fast Five” has stunning Rio de Janeiro locals, gorgeous women, fast cars, and Vin Diesel squaring off against “The Rock” Dwayne Johnson. Lin has methodically checked off all the boxes. The Taiwanese director is getting really good with his craft. Car chase is obviously the top draw. Just as you wonder what else he can give you that you haven’t seen before, he comes up with things that take you to yet another level of mindless pleasure. The movie doesn’t linger onto any dramatic scenes for too long. The filmmakers know that their target audience came for the fast cars and action. Who cares about any subplots and talking? The Rock makes a grand entrance and is provided with enough screen time to make The Rock fans happy. I also like the turn of events with his character near the end. It was handled brilliantly. Fast Five delivers what it promises and even more. There are a lot of action sequences and they are shot extremely well. The cars move really fast, but  that isn’t all Fast Five has going for it. The addition of The Rock to the story sets up an interesting fight scene between him and Dominic(which is one of my all time favorite fight sequence). The Rock helped boost the series even more and brought something fresh to the franchise. There is also the plus that the film took place in Rio de Janeiro and the scenery there is just so beautiful. There is a great chase scene that takes place over the roofs,  reminiscent of the Bourne Ultimatum scene in Morocco. Yes, the story is improbable, but we still are allowed to have fun with it. Cinematography is perfect. The soundtrack is also great.

All in all, action-packed, Humorous, and Loud, this recent Box-Office Blockbuster gets it right. Justin Lin’s direction is spot-on, while the  Screenplay by Chris Morgan, targets the masses. The Stunts are truly Spectacular and awe-striking. In fact, they are the life of this action-flick. The makers are getting so much better with every sequel, both visually as well as conceptually. “Fast Five” is not going to win any awards. It is just great fun. I look forward to the next sequel. I rate it 7.5 out of 10

Watch the Trailer…