It took a decade but there's finally a good movie in the Fast and Furious franchise.
Fast Five, the latest entry into the perenially popular series, is an entertaining, if mindless, romp through the streets and beautifully picturesque city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Series regulars and anchors Vin Diesel and Paul Walker are back in the driver's seat as Dom Toretto and Brian O'Conner and with them they string along a multi-cultural group of returning characters from 2 Fast 2 Furious' Rome (Tyrese Gibson) and Tej (Ludacris) to Tokyo Drift's ill-fated popular Han (Sung Kang) and Fast & Furious' Gisele (Gal Gadot). This time, they are on the lam for helping execute the escape of previously incarcerated Dom and wind up into the familiar face of trouble on a job gone wrong and to make matters worse, superagent Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) is fast on their trail determined to keep his record unblemished.
Ever since the first was a runaway hit back in the summer of 2001, fans had longed for a sequel, but alas, were never truly happy after Diesel had opted out of the second and Walker dropped out of the third. So when the original cast reunited for a proper sequel in 2009 it earned the most out of the series and gave attendance a shot of NOS, rare for a fourth film in a series which had already eroded nearly 75% of its original's admissions. However, that, like its predecessors was roundly criticized by critics and even the fanbase for it received the worse multiplier of the four. Thus, with this installment, everyone, or at least I, was expecting more of the same, and true enough, the trailer did not psyche me up as a casual fan. Fast & Furious had a flashy ad campaign emphasizing that its stars were back to get the nostalgia going but was an empty hood, so why would I, much less anyone, check this out again only to be hoodwinked?
Defying all notions of franchise fatigue, creatively bankrupt screenwriters and greedy executives, this model reinvented the franchise, proving, well, that anything is possible, and certainly so with its illogical over-the-top action pieces being some of the best scenes in the Fast and Furious garage. The all-star cast with all its acknowledging winks works spectacularly in the latest heist masterminded by DIesel, no longer bit players and cameos of Fast & Furious. No matter who your favourite is, they get enough screentime to showcase themselves and certainly, the lack of the need to develop them to make us care made for a fantastic ride. In fact, even though, I personally have been lukewarm to the line-up so far, the evolution of these characters over the years to culminate in this film just is able to tug on the nostalgic nerve like no other franchise has, with the exception being the Harry Potter saga. And despite their lack of acting prowess it is still enough to make you care, laugh and enjoy yourself as this rag-tag bunch of cons go to war with the self-proclaimed warlord of the favelas.
