Ten years ago a one shot movie about underground street racers sparked a cultural phenomenon for those in the 18-24 demographic. Overnight everyone from legitimate street racers to kids driving hand me down station wagons were screwing neon lights under their cars and asking where they could buy NOS. As per usual with movies having this kind of impact a sequel was green lit…but something odd happened. The sequel wasn’t bad, even stranger the third was good too, seemingly getting better with each installment we are now at #5 the point at which every series that I can think of has gained speed on the downward trend. Fast 5 is an anomaly, not only keeping the quality the series fans have come to expect but also managing to change the focus of the films from simple quarter mile street racing to Robin Hood style heists. The movie opens with a quick recap of the last movies end, basically Dominic Torretto (Vin Diesel) is looking at life behind bars in a maximum security pen taking his final race in the passenger seat of a state correctional facility bus. Brian O’Connor (Paul Walker) and Mia Torretto (Jordana Brewster) come to the rescue in a rescue that is not only breathtaking but completely defies the laws of physics. Cut to South America, Brian and Mia are meeting up with Vince (a lost face from the original film) in Rio where Dom will eventually show up. Cash poor with nowhere to go they can’t help but to join in when Vince offers them a job jacking some cars from a moving train for the local crime lord, Reyes. Things go sour mid-heist when the crew senses something devious…long story short three DEA agents end up dead at the hands of the bad guys shooting Dom, Brian and Mia to the top of the most wanted list. The US doesn’t take to kindly to outlaws shooting their agents so they call in the big dogs in the form of Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) and his team of best of the best commandos who are your classic “we always get our man “ group. So with these guys hunting them down and vengeance towards Reyes fresh on Dom’s mind they crew hatches a plan to get a team together and steal ALL of Reyes money.
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Genius….pure genius. I know that seems over the top but this movie puts so many things together and changes so many aspects of what you expect in such a fun way that it can only qualify as cinematic genius. Once the aforementioned heist plan gets underway the film brings together all of your favorite characters from the past films in a way that doesn’t feel forced and actually makes sense. The action is amped up to a level not yet seen in this series, oh and trust me the showdown between Vin Diesel and The Rock does not disappoint. The action is different than your used to trending more toward gunshots and fistfights than exhaust fumes and neon lights but it works. Now, if the cars were the reason you got into the series in the first place there isn’t total disappointment. They still manage to throw in a few scenes of the local street racing scene in Rio one of which is a real fist pumping moment for those who aren’t fans of the law. The funny thing is that usually with movies where I stress how awesome the action is it’s usually because the rest of the film is lacking, not the case here. While there are a lot of moments where you have to forget the laws of physics and such it’s actually a pretty smart heist film that only slows down for a bit here and there, never long enough to make you look at your watch. That’s not even to mention that the climatic chase scene is sure to make a lot of top 10 lists and actually holds a nice little surprise for you at the end.
Thankfully the only downside to the film is the absence of the custom made speed machines that made us all drive a little faster after seeing the first films. The cars we see in this flick are pretty awesome but really more toward function than flash. Like I said before they do give us the series standard street race scene with techno pumping a booty shorts a plenty. It really makes you feel that over the course of these movies the characters have grown up and things have gotten more serious than racing for pinks. Also, it does feel like the movie is about to end about three different times then keeps on going, but the end result is completely worth it.
I love being pleasantly surprised at movies, there’s nothing better than thinking something you wished was good is going to suck and then being shown your completely wrong. I had so much fun watching this movie it’s hard to even put in to words, literally white knuckled 90% of the time. The best thing is that, although it does wrap up nicely, you can see still see a future for the series. To be honest I can even see a spin-off starring the Rock’s character Hobbs, he’s a BMF if ya know what I mean. So needless to say head to the theaters IMMEDIATELY and see this flick and when you do so make sure to drive right, I don’t want to see any of you granny shifting, not double clutching like ya should!
Almost forgot DO NOT leave until the credits are over, there's a nice little add on that I guarantee you'll love!
4.5/5 Guttenbergs
