Movie Review - Fast Five

Fast Five

Staring: Paul Walker, Vin Diesel, Jordana Brewster, Dwayne Johnson, Tyrese Gibson, Ludacris, Matt Schulze, Sung Kang, Gal Gadot, Elsa Pataky, and more...

Directed by: Justin Lin Writing Credits: Chris Morgan Based on Characters by: Gary Scott Thompson Original Music by: Brian Tyler

Premise: After a grand escape by Dominic Toretto, engineered by Brian O'Conner and Dominic's sister Mia, the team meets again in Rio, where an old friend hooks them up with an 'easy' job when they're strapped for cash. Things go south due to info that wasn't shared, and now Dominic, Brian, and Mia are on the most wanted list of not only the US Government, who's sending a special team to find them, but Rio's biggest crime boss.

Review: Five Fast is the fifth installment of The Fast and The Furious franchise that started back in 2001. If you haven't seen the others you won't be lost, all the major info needed supplied in bits and pieces for the most part. However, if you have seen them, this turns into a major reunion party and more. (In the credits they show the way the characters looked then to now - sort of wished they'd done it at the start as it would have helped place one or two of them! :P)

You can't look at the physics of things too closely, or you'll spoil the fun. A little suspension of disbelief will go a long way and boost your enjoyment. That being said, they pull off all sorts of amazing stunts. They took all the stops out and wrecked more cars, in more closeups than ever before. If you're seeing it in IMAX, it makes it that much more. Some of the flipping cars and flying pieces of concrete and metal feel like they're coming right at you with no 3D.

Loads of chases, gun play, wrecks, and mass destruction with a towed safe. I also enjoyed the added flavor of people speaking in Portuguese down in Rio and the Spanish and English wordplay between two of the guys. (Decent subtitles are supplied for all.)

The acting is good, which means they sell it well. Some expected turns actually don't happen, and some unexpected left turns do, which was great. Loads of action action action. Tons of lovely cars and in one section loads of babes for the guys to drool over - as if they needed more than the two, make that three hot female costars.

It was a blast watching Vin Diesel and the Rock go at it. A train wreck waiting to happen. And it does. And then some.

Great location shots, too -- Rio, Puerto Rico, Arizona. I love it when they actually try to use location shots for foreign places (though they did mix some Puerto Rico into Rio - it has a spacial look :P) so you can get a feel for the difference in housing and even customs if you look hard enough.

So if you're on the hunt for an action film with decent plot, colorful characters, amazing stunts and good acting - this one's for you!

Also, make sure to sit through part of the credits, especially if you've seen the other films. There's a little extra something there just for you! :)

Rating: 4 out of 5 (Hubby's Rating: Worth full price of admission (IMAX))