Fast and Furious 6 Review

Leaving the cinema after watching The Fast and The Furious, based on a magazine article about street racing, way back in 2001, I never thought it would get a sequel, let alone five. But here we are with Fast and Furious 6, director Justin Lin's swansong after helming every installment since the third, Tokyo Drift (in some strange chronology, every movie since then actually takes place before it). He was also responsible for taking the series away from its street racer roots and moving it into action movie territory. Under his guidance, they have become ridiculous movies that revel in their ridiculousness. To apply an ounce of sense and logic to them is to miss the point. They exist to satisfy that itch that only over the top action, and little else, can scratch. And with this installment, Lin has brought us not only a great example of that, but one of the most enjoyable pure action movies we have had in a while.

Following the events of Fast 5, Dom (Vin Diesel) and his team of high octane thieves have scattered across the globe, living off the takings of their audacious heist in Brazil. But they are all brought back together by their one time nemesis Agent Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) to tackle a team of mercenaries, led by former soldier Owen Shaw (Luke Evans) with Dom's thought to be dead ex Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) at his side, whose m.o. matches their own. This leads to set piece after set piece, where everything from high performance muscle cars, planes, what can be best described as an armoured formula one car, and even a tank, are thrown about with abandon. Since the movie has to stick to a strict formula of mostly having the action around fast cars, you would think the action scenes would get stale, but each one is kept fresh by adding new elements. An early scene involving custom built ramp cars is a standout, and the scene everybody is talking about, a cargo plane being pulled out of the air by three cars, is just as epic as you can imagine. Each set piece is topped by the next, with an amazing escalation of quality on display, with some very nice one on one combat peppered between the vehicular mayhem, making good use of the physicality of Johnson, Haywire's Gina Carano, and The Raid's Joe Taslim. If these scenes have any problems, it has to be one shared by all modern action movies: the camera. It doesn't become a real problem until the movies finale, with the camera whipping around to track the action in and around Shaw's plane, leading to many a moment where you will lose track of what is going on. It is really annoying since the rest of the action is shot so well, with tight editing giving us a clear sense of everything that is going on. That's a good thing, because the set pieces are so insane you don't want to miss a thing.

The quiet moments between the flipping cars and explosions are played extremely well, with some genuinely funny moments, most of them involving making fun of Johnson's size (at one point he is referred to as Samoan Thor) or Tyrese Gibson as comic relief Roman. The story does go in some pretty unbelievable places, with that good old plot device amnesia coming into play, and Diesel reminding us every six seconds that nothing "is as important as family" gets grating very quickly, but is extremely well paced, even surprising in places, and never has you switching off. Being Lin's final time behind the wheel, he ties everything up nicely, cleaning up any loose ends from his time on the franchise, and delivering a surprising post credits cameo that shows a lot of promise for the seventh installment (due out next year with Insidious' James Wan at the helm). As you would expect after five sequels, the chemistry between the ensemble cast is second to none, everybody playing their characters without fault. No one is wasted here, with the exception of Jordana Brewster who is brought in at the last minute to fill the damsel in distress role, each character getting their moment in the spotlight. Of the newcomers, Evans is fantastic as Shaw. He is a great villain, all he's missing out on a mustache long enough to twirl, and he makes you want to step into the movie and give him a slap.

I can't express enough how much fun I had with Fast And Furious 6. If you are not a fan of the franchise this review probably won't change your mind, but if you are looking to let yourself go for two hours or so, and let some over the top action wash over you, this is the movie for you. Highly recommended!