Dir. Justin Lin
130 Minutes
Rated PG-13
The Fast and the Furious franchise is pretty odd in that its fifth film was the highest grossing, most critically "acclaimed" entry of the popular street racing saga (and yes, it is a saga). The plots have never been good in any of the films, often just marking the time in between the racing scenes, and Fast and Furious 6 is no different. The story continues where Fast Five left off, bringing back Dom Torreto (Vin Diesel) and his crew of pro-racers, this time to take down yet another vaguely "bad" organization, a mission sent by Luke Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson). Much like Fast Five elements of past films are called back on so fans of the series should have an enriched experience when it comes to certain plot turns, but overall the script takes a backseat to the action, with which director Justin Lin has outdone himself. Lin has directed the last four entries, starting with Tokyo Drift, and you can track his evolution through the movies, getting bigger and better with each sequel. Assuming you came to Fast and Furious 6 for the badass, insane, physically implausible car chase sequences, you get your money's worth.
Even though the story stinks here, I have to say that the main cast is surprisingly likable. Particularly Tyrese and Ludacris were really funny and play off each other very nicely. I really enjoyed Michelle Rodriguez (spoilers, she's back) and Dwayne Johnson, who have carved a niche for themselves and just have that special action movie charisma that really add to the film. The latest addition to the cast is Gina Carano, following up her equally badass role in last year's Haywire, and in this you get to see your fair share of Carano leg-neck chokeholds (which you can never have enough of). Paul Walker and Jordana Brewster are still god awful actors, same with Vin Diesel, but somehow their shittiness is charming to me, and maybe it's because I watched all the movies right before I went to see this, but I care about these characters. I don't know how, but they grew on me, despite the bad lines and the nonsensical, at times boring plots, these people are just as fun to watch together as even the Avengers I would say.
But come on, those car chases. That's what you paid for, and that's what you get. The action set pieces here are bigger than they've ever been, and the chase sequences are genuinely exciting. I love how Lin sparingly uses CGI, and the cars are given their full glory. There's a sequence involving Formula 1 racecars that was great, there's a racing scene with a motherfucking tank, and the final action set piece, shown in the trailer, on an airport runway is one of the craziest, most inventive action set pieces in all the films (if you can turn your brain off a little bit). The feel and sound of the cars are perfected by now, and the impossibility of the physics involved is at times hilarious, but still cool. I really enjoyed myself watching Fast and Furious 6 in the most basic way possible, just watching these muscle-headed guys (and girls) race and beat the shit of each other makes for some mindless summer fun.
Rating: B-
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