Directed by Justin Lin, (3.5/5).
We’ve come a long way since 2 Fast 2 Furious, and Fast Five wants to make that known. Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Jordana Brewster return for the fifth installment in the Fast and the Furious series, and Justin Lin returns as director. Yet, Lin takes a different approach to what you might expect. Although the faces are familiar, the rest of the movie is almost unrecognisable as a Fast and Furious film.
Fast Five takes off straight after the events of Fast and Furious, where Brian, Mia, and Dom are on the run after breaking Dom (Diesel) out of a prison bus. Forced to escape America due to their notoriety, they find themselves in Rio de Janeiro. After a simple job goes bad, they find themselves on the wrong side of Rio’s most powerful crime lord, while also being hunted by an expert team of American agents. With enemies on all sides and no options left to them, Brian, Mia, and Dom call in a few of their old friends and hatch an elaborate scheme that will make them rich, free, and even. That is, if all goes to plan.
While I appreciate Lin’s efforts to take the series in a new direction, I’m not really sure if it works. To be honest, the film just feels confused. Although it starts explosively and concludes satisfyingly, the movie loses momentum throughout. It suddenly takes on the look and feel of a “heist” movie, while also seemingly attempting to be an action blockbuster, not to mention the fact that it is trying to be a street racing film at the same time. The film doesn’t capture the essence of the Fast and the Furious series; in fact, there’s barely any racing at all.
The film does have some great elements: the cinematography is stunning, the action is gripping, there are plenty of laughs to be had, and there truly are some awesomely cool moments. In each of its individual aspects, the film is great; the heist plot is inventive and engaging and there are some fantastic action scenes. Yet by trying to do too many things at once, the film ultimately misses its mark. While it’s an awesome way to kill a couple of hours, it’s not what you’d expect from a Fast and Furious film.
Fast Five
