Fast Five :: A 63 Review

Original View Date: April 22nd, 2011

Plot (1/5):
As a franchise, I like how the films all connect now. However the Fast and Furious series are starting to look like the Saw series. Let us hope it ends soon before it's too late.

First of all the problem with this film is that it consists of a plot that is unnecessary. This story only exists because the studio wanted a sequel. Why does Toretto need to steal cars from a train? The flow of the plot becomes worse when its driving force becomes the want for revenge on the crime lord, Reyes. Revenge for WHAT? Toretto is the one that stole the cars that Reyes was after.

Another big issue is that the protagonists spend so much time trying to come up with a way to covertly steal Reyes' money. Almost 50% of the movie is them trying to find a way. They figure out that they can't do this with their cars so they take up another 15 or so minutes to steal police cars for the job. However in the end they just brutally attack Reyes with armored cars and forcefully steal his money. So what was the whole point of the second act? Nothing.

The plot is suffice enough for the fans to follow but it's filled with clutter.

Characters (2/5):
Here we have a box of new yet old characters. We have the female cop who is determined to fight for the law due to the murder of her husband. She is, of course, going to be sympathetic towards Toretto and become the more reasonable one. Yes, we've seen this character before. Next we have the bulky badass cop portrayed by The Rock. Have we seen this character before? Yes and I think he's in the same movie! This is just another Vin Diesel. No joke; during their dog fight it's hard to tell who is who.

But the most terrible thing by far is the friendship that is developed between Toretto and The Rock. Unnecessary, unconvincing and so out of the blue. The Rock is an unreasonable character that has a reputation of catching every one of his targets. It's so out of character that he becomes lenient towards Toretto just because he saved his life. That did not work out which is why I disliked the ending. Also another problem with The Rock: why does he shoot Reyes in the end? I mean, Reyes was bleeding and begging for mercy and he just kills him. Okay, I know The Rock is badass but he's supposed to be this brute force of justice. That was so out of character.

And how or when the hell did Han get the hot girl? When he stared at her on the beach?

Performance (3/5):
There is a dramatic scene with the baby O'Connor is going to have. This allows more personal interaction between O'Connor and Toretto. While the scene itself is unnecessary the audience gets to see different aspects of Toretto's character. Overall, it's your standard action performances.

Specifics (5/5):
If there's one thing this movie does really well, it's the action. This is what I came to see and the movie delivers. The action scale has been enlarged to the maximum. I can't see the next film do top Fast Five. Fast Five is a blast. It's a non stop action surfeit. Simply mind blowing and brainless, just the way I like it.

Theme (1/5):

Cool cars and hot girls.

Dialogue (1/5):
I PROMISE...that the dialogue isn't the selling point here. Like all Fast and Furious movies this has plenty of one liners, stupid lines that are unnecessary. The thing that still bothers me the most is when the camera cuts to each driver in the race and every one of them has something to say at that moment. Things like "Don't make it too easy for me, boys!" and "Not this time!" It's stupid.

Overall (3/5):

Pretty damn entertaining and the flaws can be disregarded easily. They are nothing major; they are merely things that bothered me throughout the film. Fast Five is probably the best out of all five.