Film review: Speed demons in Fast Five

A thrill ride is what fans hitting the theatres should expect from The Fast and the Furious 5.

A thrill ride is what fans hitting the theatres to watch the latest installment of the Fast and Furious franchise will be expecting, and Fast Five gives viewers exactly what they expect. Heart-stopping action sequences, nerve-wracking suspense, signature car-racing scenes and a smattering of emotional appeal is what Fast Five is all about.

Fast Five picks up exactly where the last Fast and Furious ended. To recap, Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) is busted out while he is being transferred to prison, and everyone goes their separate ways. Now, Dominic’s sister Mia Toretto (Jordana Brewster) and the love of her life, Brian O’Connor (Paul Walker)  drive off to Brazil in a Nissan Skyline classic and meet up with the hot-headed  Vince (Matt Schulze) who has already established himself in the Brazilian underworld. Vince duly gets a ‘job’ lined up for Brian and Mia.

But there’s many a slip ‘twixt cup and lip and the plans change while the job is in progress with our heroes getting in the bad books of Brazilian businessman Hernan Reyes (Joaquim de Almeida). Reyes threatens Mia’s life and wakes up a pair of sleeping giants in the bargain.

This is where the movie gets a bit Bollywoodistic, but then who cares? If the movie has to be described in one phrase, “sheer adrenalin” would be it. It is a 2hr, 10 min white-knuckle rollercoaster ride.

Viewers are seated to witness the greatest and the most thrilling heist ever to hit the big screen. Soon we find that it’s not just two teams going at each other, there is a third team (the FBI) also added to the mix. FBI agent Hobbs (The Rock) and his men are also following our speedy heroes’ trail in an attempt to bring them to justice.

The stunt choreography is in a league of its own; Director Justin Lin has simply outdone himself and set a new standard. The thrilling scene of the heist of the cars from a train was unbelievable and combined elements from XXX and Fast 5. After all, this franchise is about two things: cars and car chases. Actually, make that three things: cars, car chases and family. As for the first, car enthusiasts can ogle a fine selection of four-wheeled beauties, like the ‘63 Ford Galaxy, the ‘66 Ford GT40, the ‘66 Corvette Grand Sport, the Porsche GT3 and the ‘72 Nissan Skyline.

The fifth installment brings back all the major players from the previous four movies: we have got the Bossman Toretto, Mia, Brian, Vince, Roman, Han, Tego, Don Santos, Tej and Gisele. Seeing them all in one warehouse planning to pull off the greatest heist ever highlights the way their friendship makes them feel like family members.  And as opposed to the previous parts, this time Diesel meets his match in The Rock, who can give as good as he gets in a one-on-one fist fight.

With a combination of wit, action, drama, love ands sheer adrenaline, Fast Five is easily the finest in the franchise.

Published in The Express Tribune, Sunday Magazine May 22^nd, 2011.