Friday, May 24, 2013

Fast & Furious 6 Movie Review


Fast & Furious Gets Better with Age

It’s not often that a sequel outdoes the original (yet alone the fifth sequel) but so it is with Universal Pictures’ Fast & Furious 6, a wild (and refreshingly funny) ride through the streets of LA, London, Moscow, Rio and Espana. All of your favorite fugitives are back, led by Vin Diesel and Paul Walker, together with super agent Dwayne Johnson. It’s completely over-the-top, but super fun to watch. I can’t wait for #7! You didn’t think they were done, did ya?

IMDb Plot: Hobbs (Johnson) has Dom (Diesel) and Brian (Walker) reassemble their crew in order to take down a mastermind who commands an organization of mercenary drivers across 12 countries. Payment? Full pardons for them all.

What’s Best: I love the straightforward approach the F&F franchise takes with its audience, starting with the title (Fast & Furious 6 - What more do you really need?) The special effects are incredible, and director Justin Lin brings the funny with Tyrese Gibson taking on a larger (and more hilarious) role. Johnson’s physical awesomeness is on display throughout, earning comparisons to not one, not two but three Marvel superheroes (Captain America, the Hulk and my personal favorite... Samoan Thor.) He even spits out glass at one point. Glass!

Former MMA champion Gina Carano (Haywire) and Michelle Rodriguez prove girls can be just as tough as the boys... taking turns trying to beat each other’s brains out. And don’t forget the cars... Words can’t describe the jaw-dropping chases, gizmos (chip guns!) and game-changers ‘They got a tank!’ Fast & Furious 6 has it all, and then some.

What’s Not: I had a blast from start to finish; but Lin admittedly throws a lot at his audience in F&F6’s far-fetched climax. There are so many loose ends that need tying, you get the feeling that Lin’s going through a checklist one-by-one. That said, who doesn’t want to see Diesel and the Rock take a turn as the greatest wrestling tag team of all-time?

Best Line: If you didn’t know who was boss by now, Diesel’s Dom makes it painlessly clear he’s it. From pulling out his own bullet to dropping, ‘V-8. Never could resist American muscle’ to ex-girlfriend Lefty (Rodriguez) Vin oozes cool. Not to be outdone, Ludacris (Chris Bridges) takes top prize for ‘You can’t flick a booger in London without someone noticing.’ Kudos to Chris Morgan for some surprisingly good dialogue to go along with all the action.

Overall: The Fast & Furious franchise seems to get better with each sequel (not counting Tokyo Drift... I dare you to name one actor in it.) Credit Lin & Morgan for infusing much-needed humor into the series... and blending it seamlessly with the already top-notch action sequences. After coming up on the short end of a fist fight in a London subway, Roman (Gibson) confides to partner Han (Sung Kang) ’No one needs to know about this.’ It’s a great way to punctuate a cool scene, providing levity and a nice segue to what follows.

Luke Evans makes an entertaining villain, and his team (‘It’s like we’re hunting our evil twins’) gives Dom & co. more than a run for their money. 2011’s Fast Five was good. Fast & Furious 6 is even better. Stick around after the credits for a sneak peak at what’s coming up next.

GradeB+