Review: Fast Five

#76 - Fast Five


Fast Five continues the Fast and Furious franchise. It picks up exactly where Fast & Furious left off. Dominic Toretto is on his way to jail when his sister, Mia; his friend, Brian; and his team rescue him. They escape to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. There they meet up with Vince, an old family friend. Vince cons them into doing another job, but it goes terribly wrong. They upset a man named Hernan Reyes, who owns the city of Rio. He sets out to kill Dom and his crew, but he is in for a big surprise when Dom turns the tables on him and steals 100 million dollars of Reyes's money. The city of Rio is left in shambles, Reyes and his men are killed, and Dom, Brian, Mia, and the crew make off with the money.

Aside from 2 Fast 2 Furious, I think that Fast Five is the best movie of the franchise. I like 2 Fast 2 Furious because of its humor, but this movie has it all. They pack together characters from all of the four movies, plus they add new characters that create conflict and push the plot forward. Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson's character, Luke Hobbs, is a great addition to the Fast and Furious movies. He is the head of the DSS, and he has been ordered to arrest Dominic Torreto, Mia Torreto, and Brian O'Conner. What he didn't bargain for was the cunning ways of Dom and his crew. This makes Hobbs respect Torreto, and he even gives Dom a 24-hour head start to run from the law at the end of the film. Dwayne Johnson is a total badass, so his fight scene with Vin Diesel is just absolutely epic. Vin and Dwayne are the action-packed side of the film, but then there's the humorous side: Tyrese, Ludacris, and the two dumb sidekicks from Fast & Furious - Rico and Tego. These guys are non-stop riots when they're on screen, and they even out the balance of comedy and drama throughout the film.

Fast Five really has everything a film should have. You would think that getting into the fifth film in a franchise, they would be running out of ideas, but they're not. They keep driving the character development and plot forward, up, and out. In this film, Mia reveals that she's pregnant, which gives Dom that family he's been missing - and you also learn about Brian's past and how he never knew his dad. It gives Brian a softer side, and you get a peek into why he is the way he is. It also allows for a heart-felt scene between Brian and Dom once again. We haven't had a scene like that since the original film in Dom's garage when Dom was telling Brian about how his father died. Any chance to show the bond between Torreto and O'Conner is fine by me. I love the on screen chemistry between Paul Walker and Vin Diesel. The film even throws in a shocking stinger in the middle of the credits: Letty is alive. When I saw that stinger in the theater, I gasped so loud! How's that for a plot twist? A 6th movie AND the writers get to open up an entire new story arch. These writers are geniuses, let me tell you. There are VERY few film franchises that can survive up to six movies. Kudos to the Fast and Furious films because they just keep getting better and better.

Overall, I give Fast Five 4.5 out of 5 stars.