The Fate of the Furious (2017) review

I think it’s safe to say that when the original Fast and the Furious came out in 2001, not many people figured that it would eventually lead into one of the biggest film franchises in recent years. And yet, here we are now at the eighth installment of the Fast and the Furious franchise. Seriously, it’s crazy to see how far this series has come since its early days. Who would’ve thought that by the time that its fifth installment came about in 2011, the franchise that had always attracted a mixed-to-negative response from critics would manage to turn things around and start to do just as well with critics as it’s always done with audiences? Whether it’s due to the shift from street racing to action heist plots or the addition of Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson as fan-favorite Luke Hobbs, the series has seen a major increase in both critical and commercial success thanks to its most recent outings. Case in point, the most recent entry, 2015’s Furious 7, became the first film in the series to gross over $1 billion worldwide. Of course, part of the reason for this was that the film was impacted by the death of franchise star Paul Walker halfway through shooting. Thus, the film ended up becoming a poignant send-off to one of the series’ original stars, while still being another enjoyably over-the-top entry in the series. But the story isn’t over yet for Dominic Toretto and his crew. Now under the direction of F. Gary Gray, fresh off 2015’s smash hit Straight Outta Compton, the crew finds themselves up against their most intimidating adversary yet, one of their own, in The Fate of the Furious. Yes, you may snicker at that title, but if you’re a fan of Fast and the Furious, you’ll be pleased to know that this film features more of the same great over-the-top action that this series is known for.

Things have been going quite well for Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) and his crew ever since the events of Furious 7. No longer having to worry about dealing with anyone that’s trying to hunt them down, they’ve been spending most of their time living in peace, with Dom enjoying his honeymoon with his wife, Letty Ortiz (Michelle Rodriguez), in Cuba after she regained her memories of their marriage in the previous film. However, when the team is called in to steal an EMP device from a military complex in Berlin, they are surprised when Dom shockingly betrays them by taking the device and getting their ally, Diplomatic Security Service agent Luke Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson), arrested by the local government. As they soon come to find out, Dom is in cahoots with the most elusive cyberterrorist on the planet, Cipher (Charlize Theron), who unbeknownst to them has managed to coerce Dom into working for her thanks to a crucial ace in the hole. Thus, Letty, Hobbs, and the rest of the crew; fast-talker Roman Pearce (Tyrese Gibson), tech expert Tej Parker (Ludacris), and hacker Ramsey (Nathalie Emmanuel), find themselves in a difficult situation as they’re now forced to combat their longtime friend. With the aid of their old ally, government agent ‘Mr. Nobody’ (Kurt Russell), the team embarks on their latest mission; to take down Cipher before she instigates nuclear war and to, hopefully, get Dom back on their side. They even gain an unexpected ally in their old nemesis, Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham), who they had imprisoned at the end of Furious 7.

Well, seeing how this is the eighth entry in the franchise, I’m well-aware that I’m just repeating myself at this point when it comes to talking about these films. Let’s be honest, folks, eight films in, you know exactly what to expect from this series. You’re not going to get anything Oscar-worthy out of this film’s straightforward ‘stop the bad guy from doing something terrible’ plot. But, of course, that’s not what you’re here for. You’re here for the ridiculous and yet still all-around awesome action sequences that defy all logic and physics with characters who are basically superheroes at this point. And, of course, this film has plenty of that to go around, including an epic chase through New York City involving an army of cars remotely controlled by Cipher. Seriously, though, if you’re one of those who scoffs at the sight of Dwayne Johnson pushing away a torpedo (that has been fired by a submarine) with his bare hands or Vin Diesel managing to finish a street race all while his car is almost entirely on fire, then this film isn’t for you. But, for those who are fans of the series, this doesn’t disappoint when it comes to delivering exactly what this franchise is known for. But, at the same time, it’s all handled with solid execution from a directing standpoint. F. Gary Gray, who’s no stranger to action films having directed the 2003 remake of The Italian Job (which, fittingly enough, starred Charlize Theron and Jason Statham), handles the action well and the film’s overall tone is probably the most consistent that it’s ever been at with this series since Fast Five. In other words, it’s a well-balanced mix of fun, over-the-top action and light-hearted banter with just enough dramatic heft in there that never overshadows the previous two aspects. Because at this point, the franchise is very much self-aware when it comes to not trying to be something that it isn’t.

And, of course, it wouldn’t be a Fast and Furious film without arguably the most definitive aspect of the franchise (yes, even more so than the action), family. Yes, despite the scandalous feud between stars Vin Diesel and Dwayne Johnson that clearly isn’t ‘just a publicity stunt’ and this film’s big plot-line of Dom going against his family, the camaraderie amongst the cast is as strong as it’s ever been. And the big reveal surrounding Dom’s actions, without giving anything away, are, surprisingly, well-handled. It isn’t anything too outlandish like I know some were assuming when the first trailer came out. Instead, it manages to tie in with the whole ‘family’ aspect quite well. Of course, the rest of Dom’s crew is just as solid as they’ve ever been, from Tyrese getting a lot of the best humorous moments as Roman to Dwayne Johnson being his usual badass self as Hobbs. Hobbs also gets quite a lot of memorable scenes with Deckard Shaw, as Jason Statham thankfully gets a much more substantial role this time around. Sure, the idea of him becoming an ally to Dom’s crew may seem like a major stretch considering that, in the last film, he killed their crewmate Han but I’ll admit that I’m interested in seeing how they handle this going forward. Plus, it does lead to one super entertaining action sequence that he’s directly involved in. And then, there’s the main villain Cipher, who most certainly ends up being one of the series’ best villains. Charlize Theron plays the part excellently and while she does spend most of the film monitoring the action instead of being out in the field (which may come as a disappointment to some given Theron’s clear skill in terms of fight sequences as evident from Mad Max: Fury Road and the upcoming action thriller Atomic Blonde), her ability to coerce Dom into working for her makes her an entertainingly cold villainess.  

I won’t lie, folks… this may have just become my new favorite entry in the Fast and Furious franchise. I’m kind of reeling at the surreal nature of that statement; I just said that about the eighth (eighth!) installment of the franchise. The only other instance in film history where that was even remotely possible was Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 back in 2011… and that’s not even my favorite entry in that series, so this is a first for me. But, as a fan of this franchise (at least since the fourth film), this delivered on everything that you’ve come to expect in a Fast and Furious film. Yes, it’s just as simply plotted as its predecessors. And yes, the action is insane… and yet it’s still so damn awesome. Somehow, someway, the filmmakers are continuing to raise the bar in terms of the crazy stunts that this series is known for. And despite what I just said about the film being just as silly and over-the-top as its predecessors, its handling of the whole ‘Dom going rogue’ storyline is surprisingly well-handled. Yeah, it easily could’ve gone a lot worse but the way that they handle it does make sense once you realize the specific reason why Dom is forced to go against his team. Pair all that with the same great over-the-top action and the strong camaraderie of its cast and you have another super entertaining action thrill ride. And with a record-breaking weekend at the global box-office in the books (over $532 million to be precise), this series clearly isn’t slowing down. And you can bet that I’ll be looking forward to the next two installments of this apparent new ‘trilogy’ that the filmmakers are implicating is being set up by this film.

Rating: 4.5/5

(P.S. As it turns out, my next post on here will be the 500^th post that I’ve published on Rhode Island Movie Corner. With that in mind, stay tuned for an extra special post to celebrate this momentous occasion.)

Furious 7 (2015) review

In some ways, it’s still hard to believe that the ‘Fast and Furious’ franchise has now been going on for more than a decade. At first, it was just a simple street-racing franchise that, while consistently commercially successful, never were big hits with critics. But then, to everyone’s surprise, it suddenly became one of the biggest film franchises in recent years. Having not been a ‘fan’ of the series in its early years, the fourth film, 2009’s ‘Fast and Furious’, was the one that first got me interested in the series, even though in retrospect I realize I’m kind of in the minority when it comes to liking that film. Ultimately though, the series really started to shine with the fifth entry, 2011’s ‘Fast Five’, the first entry in the series to, to everyone’s surprise, do really well with critics. There were many reasons for this upgrade in quality. There was the return of many of the series’ former leads, resulting in the series’ first true ‘ensemble’ cast. There was the overall shift in regards to the series’ plots from street-racing to heists. And of course, there was the very welcome addition of Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson in the role of DSS agent Luke Hobbs. Just like that, the franchise became relevant again, soon followed by an equally awesome, and arguably better, follow-up in 2013 in the form of ‘Fast and Furious 6’, the first entry in the series that I was genuinely looking forward to. There’s no better way to say it; those last three movies made me a ‘F&F’ fan.

Now Dom and his crew (or, to use a more proper term, ‘family’) are back for the seventh entry (yes, seventh) of the ‘Fast and Furious’ franchise, ‘Furious 7’. This time, however, the film is under a different director (a first since 2003’s ‘2 Fast 2 Furious’). James Wan, who has mainly been known for his work on horror films like ‘Saw’, ‘Insidious’, and ‘The Conjuring’, takes over directing duties from Justin Lin, who had directed every entry of the series since 2006’s ‘Tokyo Drift’, for this new film. But of course, as we all know, that isn’t the biggest headline surrounding the film. Sadly, a more tragic one is. On November 30, 2013, while on break from shooting the film, series lead Paul Walker was killed in a single-car accident. Filming was only half-done at the time of his death so the production was temporarily put on hold so that the filmmakers could figure out a way to finish the film without Walker. As a result, ‘Furious 7’ now serves as not only a tribute to one of the series’ biggest stars, but also as the final film for Walker’s character Brian O’Connor. Needless to say, the film really delivers on representing Walker’s legacy with the franchise. But of course, this is also a ‘Fast and Furious’ movie and even with the change in directors, ‘Furious 7’ still succeeds in being a dumb and over-the-top but ultimately fun as hell action film that knows exactly what it is and doesn’t try to be something it’s not.

At the end of ‘Fast and Furious 6’, former street racer/criminal Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) and his crew; Brian O’Connor (Paul Walker), Dom’s sister Mia (Jordana Brewster), Dom’s girlfriend Letty Ortiz (Michelle Rodriguez), Tej Parker (Ludacris), and Roman Pearce (Tyrese Gibson) had finally returned home to the States after helping DSS agent Luke Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) take down Owen Shaw and his crew in London. However, not long after, they soon find themselves being hunted by Shaw’s older brother Deckard (Jason Statham), who seeks revenge against Dom and co. for what they did to his brother. As it was revealed in the post-credits scene for ‘Furious 6’, Deckard was the one responsible for the death of Han (Sung Kang) in ‘Tokyo Drift’ which, for those who are new to the franchise, is actually this new film’s immediate predecessor being that it takes place after the events of the fourth, fifth, and sixth films. He follows that up by injuring Hobbs and nearly killing Dom, Mia, and Brian when their house is destroyed by a bomb. Not wanting to have to deal with another funeral for one of their family members, Dom and his crew team up with the government, specifically agent ‘Mr. Nobody’ (Kurt Russell), to find a computer program known as ‘God’s Eye’, developed by hacker Megan Ramsey (Nathalie Emmanuel), that would allow them to track anyone on Earth through digital devices. In return, the gov’t will allow Dom and the crew to use it to track down Shaw.

I mean, at this point, you should definitely know what you’re getting yourselves into when you watch these movies; this is the seventh entry in the franchise after all. You don’t watch them for the plot, that’s for sure. In fact, the MacGuffin they’re after in this film is actually unnecessary to their goal (I’ll explain why in a little bit). But of course, that’s not what these movies are all about. By now, the filmmakers have become very much aware of what these movies are; dumb fun, and they just roll with it. ‘Furious 7’ is no exception. Despite the fact that he’s not really as experienced in regards to directing action compared to someone like Justin Lin, James Wan does a really good job for his first major action film. The action sequences are just as crazy and physics/logic-defying as ever. This is a film where cars drop out of a plane, one super-fancy and super-rare car jumps between skyscrapers, and the characters constantly find themselves doing death-defying stunts. Of course, pretty much all of these stunts would be implausible in real life but who cares? And like I said before, at this point who even cares about the plot? It just serves as a way for Dom and crew to keep doing these awesome stunts. But even with the minimalist plot, one common theme that has basically been the defining trait of the whole franchise since the very beginning is the concept of family, which is even more relevant in this one given the death of Walker.

Without spoiling anything major, he is given a really fitting and touching send-off that is guaranteed to make even the toughest folks cry. The camaraderie amongst the main leads, from Walker to Diesel to Rodriguez to Johnson (by the way, some fans may be a little disappointed to know that Hobbs’ role in this film is much more diminished then it was in 5 and 6 given that he’s taken out of commission early on by Shaw for most of the film) to Gibson to Ludacris and so on and so on. And in my opinion, this is the greatest strength of the franchise; the fact that the relationships between the main characters feels very much genuine. Like with the last film, this entry also benefits from some fun additions to the cast, from Russell to Emmanuel to Djimon Hounsou, the latter of whom plays a mercenary who Dom and crew keep running into. As the main villain, Statham definitely brings the right intimidating presence in the role but ultimately he’s rather underused in some cases. Remember that whole thing I said earlier about the whole MacGuffin of the film being unnecessary? Well that’s because Shaw literally shows up for every major set piece in the film. So really Dom and crew didn’t even need that program to find Shaw because he always manages to find them first. He may be the older brother of Owen Shaw, but in the end the younger brother is still the best ‘F&F’ villain to date.

‘Furious 7’ probably won’t convert over anyone who isn’t a fan of the franchise. Like its predecessors, it’s over-the-top, stupid, and full of logic-bending, physics-messing, and death-defying stunts. But that’s why they’re so damn entertaining to watch and ‘Furious 7’ is once again proof of that. Yeah the plot is pretty weak, with the whole MacGuffin that the team is looking for being ultimately pointless in the grand scheme of things, but as I’ve said plenty of times in this review, who seriously goes into a film like this looking for top-quality writing? ‘Furious 7’ is just loads of fun while also maintaining the strengths of the most recent entries of the franchise, namely the great camaraderie of its cast and perhaps most importantly its keen sense of fun. I’ll admit that part of me kind of misses Justin Lin’s presence behind the camera but overall James Wan does do a really solid job for what was his first major foray into the action genre. And of course, I guarantee you that you’re going to be crying when this film ends as the characters, the franchise, and ultimately all of us say goodbye to Paul Walker. Regardless of what you thought of him as an actor, it’s clear that he was, above all else, a good man and he will be sorely missed. ‘Furious 7’ not only succeeds at being what the ‘Fast and Furious’ movies have become in the last few years but by also serving as a touching tribute to Walker’s legacy.

Rating: 4/5

#ForPaul

'The Fast and the Furious' (2001-2013) Series Retrospective

Despite the tragic death of series star Paul Walker in a car crash back in November 2013, ‘Furious 7’, the seventh (yes, seventh) film in the ‘Fast and the Furious’ series hits theaters this week. Seriously, who would’ve ever thought that a film series that’s primarily about driving cars and ridiculous stunts would be successful enough to produce seven films? Most film franchises never get that far and even if they did, the films would really start to get bad after a while. But it’s surprisingly the opposite case with ‘The Fast and the Furious’ films; they’ve actually gotten better as the series has gone on. I’ll admit that I never really paid much attention to the franchise during its early years. The only major element of it that was I familiar with at the time was the multiple arcade game spin-offs, including the original ‘Fast and the Furious’ arcade game and its many follow-ups, including one for ‘Tokyo Drift’ and two ‘Super Bikes’ games that in hindsight don’t really connect to the series that much at all; hell, the second game doesn’t even carry the film series license. But anyway, I digress. I remember that it was after watching the Super Bowl commercial for the fourth film that I actually started to become interested in the franchise. I didn’t see the fourth film in theaters but I did watch it on HBO and since then… I have to admit I’ve actually become a fairly big fan of the franchise. So today, in honor of the seventh film’s release and in memory of Paul Walker, I’m looking back upon this beast of a franchise, from its humbler beginnings to its more recent bigger-scaled efforts. It’s time to ‘Ride or Die’ as we look at the ‘Fast and the Furious’ films.

THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS (2001)

As someone who was first introduced to the franchise through its later installments, I must say that it’s fairly interesting to see how far ‘Fast and Furious’ has come since it first started 14 years ago. Like with the ‘Harry Potter’ franchise, this is definitely a case where the series definitely got better over time. That isn’t to say that ‘The Fast and the Furious’ isn’t entertaining; it has a nice energetic pace that perfectly matches the, for lack of a better term, fast nature of the story and a lot of the car stunt sequences are pretty good. But with that said, you still have to admit that the film is a definite case of style over substance. Sure, this film’s not completely brain-less as there are some actual/legitimate bits of character development here, namely between the main characters, street racer/criminal Dominic Toretto and undercover cop Brian O’Connor, and Vin Diesel and Paul Walker work off each other really well. But suffice it to say this is not a movie that you go into expecting great writing. In fact, as many people have already pointed out, this is basically just the street racing clone of ‘Point Break’. Despite this, the first ‘Fast and the Furious’ film is still a fairly entertaining popcorn flick even if, in some cases, it’s become a little dated. Ultimately, though, it would take some time (about a decade to be specific) before this series really started to shine.

Rating: 3.5/5

2 FAST 2 FURIOUS (2003)

First I’ll give you a few seconds to laugh at that hilariously ridiculous title… done? Okay, moving on… so now we come to the second film in the series, this one being directed by John Singleton, who had previously been nominated for two Oscars for his work on his 1991 film ‘Boyz n the Hood’. As for ‘2 Fast 2 Furious’, however, unfortunately it ends up being the weakest entry in the franchise. Now despite what I just said, that doesn’t mean the film isn’t entertaining, because it is. Once again, a lot of the car stunts are really cool, especially the first highway chase and the scene near the end involving a whole mob of cars coming out of one warehouse. Leads Paul Walker and Tyrese Gibson have nice camaraderie with one another, with Gibson in particular being a real stand-out due to his great comedic ability which was put to even greater use in future films. Ultimately though, ‘2 Fast 2 Furious’ suffers from some fairly mediocre writing. Now to be fair, these films have never been known for their writing anyway but here it ends up being rather dull and generic, with a mediocre anti-climax and a generic villain. Plus, something I didn’t mention in my review of the first film is that both of these films have some rather poor/obvious CGI used during some of the racing scenes, namely during close-up shots of the drivers. Thankfully, this was improved upon in future installments. ‘2 Fast 2 Furious’, ultimately, is my least favorite entry in the franchise. I don’t think it’s bad, but like I said earlier, we still haven’t gotten to the series’ best installments yet.

Rating: 3/5

THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS: TOKYO DRIFT (2006)

After the first film which featured all four of the series’ main group of leads and the second film which only featured one of them, now we have ‘Tokyo Drift’, the only entry in the ‘Fast and Furious’ series not to have any of the main leads of the series appear in a major role, save for a pretty awesome cameo by Vin Diesel at the end. Because of this, ‘Tokyo Drift’ has basically been regarded as the most forgotten entry in the series, made even more evident by the fact that it’s the lowest-grossing entry of the series at the box office. But… it’s actually the most underrated of the series and, dare I say, I have to agree with my friend Augie in that I think this is even better than the first film. Sure, this film may not have Vin Diesel or Paul Walker but its cast gets through it pretty darn well without them. Plus, like with ‘2 Fast 2 Furious’, this film does give us another standout character that would later become a major character in future films, in this case Han (Sung Kang), despite the fact that he actually dies during the events of this film. So why does he come back in later films? Well that’s because, despite the fact that this was the third film released chronologically, it actually takes place after the events of the fourth, fifth, and sixth films, hence why Han appears in those films. ‘Furious 7’ will be the first film in the series set after the events of this film. Yeah… wrap your head around that one.

So what’s the main reason as to why this film works so well? It’s because of director Justin Lin, this being the first entry in the series that he directed. He gives the series a much needed boost in quality in terms of direction while also giving the series an edge that, in some cases, the last two films sort of lacked. This film also has the added benefit of being set in a cool locale, Tokyo, meaning that this film does manage to stand out even without the main leads in it thanks to its great visual look. The whole concept of ‘drifting’, which is pretty cool, really lends itself well to the fun action sequences that you’ve now come to expect from this franchise. So overall, ‘Tokyo Drift’ is the one entry in the series that really deserves more attention than it currently gets. If anything, you shouldn’t ignore this entry in the series just because Vin Diesel and Paul Walker aren’t in it. Sure, it may not necessarily be one of the series’ best, but it’s still really entertaining. This was the first entry of the series that really showed promise that the series could improve and you can thank Justin Lin for that as he managed to make an incredibly memorable ‘Fast and Furious’ film without any of the series’ main leads. But this would set the stage for those leads to make one heck of a return to the franchise they helped start in the first place.

Rating: 3.5/5

FAST AND FURIOUS (2009)

After nearly a decade since the first film’s release back in 2001, the main four leads of the franchise; Diesel, Walker, Michelle Rodriguez, and Jordana Brewster all reunited for a new film in the franchise, ‘Fast and Furious’, the second entry in the series to be directed by Justin Lin. But unlike the following two entries in this series, ‘Fast and Furious’ has been the least successful of the series in terms of critical response despite its commercial success at the box office. It only has a 27% score on Rotten Tomatoes… but overall I disagree with that rating. This is my third favorite entry in the series to date and I as noted in the intro, this was the first ‘Fast and Furious’ film that I ever saw, albeit on TV, not in theaters. This of course was after I had watched the Super Bowl commercial for the film, the first time that I really began to show interest in the franchise having initially not paid any attention towards it during its initial run. Overall I view it as being similar to the first film but with much stronger direction. Like I said before, Justin Lin gave the series new life and now with this fourth film, it has really started to shine thanks to the return of the main cast after they didn’t play a major part in the second and third films. So with that said, why then is this one not as liked by a lot of people? Well, from what I can tell, it’s because they feel the movie is ‘too serious’ for a ‘Fast and Furious’ film. And for the record I do see where they’re coming from.

The plot of this film revolves around Dom returning home to LA after learning that his girlfriend Letty (Rodriguez) has been ‘murdered’ (I use the term loosely because, well, you’ll see why when I start talking about the sixth film), looking for revenge against those who were responsible. This results in him crossing paths once again with Brian, who’s going after the same people for the FBI. Last year’s ‘Need for Speed’ was a similar situation, being more serious than both it needed to be and quite frankly what it was capable of being given its premise of street racing. But here, I didn’t mind too much when the film got serious because I do feel that there was some legitimate motivation for Dom and Brian to stop the villains unlike with previous villains in the franchise. Besides, there’s still a lot of awesome car stunts, from the opening tanker sequence in the Dominican Republic to the final chase scene taking place in the underground tunnels between Mexico and the U.S., though in the case of the latter, I am aware that there was definitely a lot of CGI used in that sequence, even though for the most part it at least looks a little better than it did in the first two films. Regardless, this is still a ‘Fast and Furious’ movie; it’s silly and over the top but still really fun to watch. Now that the main cast was back, it was time for the series to go off in a new direction which ended up taking us all very much by surprise.

Rating: 4/5

FAST FIVE (2011)

I think it’s safe to say that we were all surprised when we saw that this film, the fifth entry in a series that was more successful with audiences than it was with critics, was actually getting really great reviews from critics. It has a 77% rating on RT, way higher than any of the previous four films (which were rated 53%, 36% twice, and 27%, respectively). And suffice it to say… they’re right. At the time of its release, ‘Fast Five’ immediately made a name for itself as the best entry in the series. It achieved that by making the radical move of straying from the formula that had defined the series since the beginning though ultimately it ended up being the right move. Instead of its focus being on street racing, ‘Fast Five’ opts for a heist storyline a la ‘Ocean’s Eleven’ and ‘The Italian Job’. Seriously, there’s only one ‘street race’ in this entire film and they don’t even show it happening; they cut away from it before it starts. The second major change is that, unlike the previous films which only centered around 2-4 characters at a time, this is the first in the series to have a true ensemble as the film reunites Dom and Brian with nearly all of their primary allies from the previous films; Roman (Tyrese Gibson), Han, Gisele (Gal Gadot), Tej (Ludacris), etc… And third, and most importantly, there’s ‘The Rock’.

Yes folks, the addition of Dwayne Johnson in the role of DSS agent Luke Hobbs, who’s out to catch Dom and his crew, is quite frankly the best thing that could have ever happened to this series. Johnson really stands out amongst the members of the cast in what is simply a stand-out role. But with that said, this is probably the first entry in the series where the cast in general really shines. A key theme of the whole series has been ‘family’ and you really do see that with this cast as proven by their excellent camaraderie with each other. The action sequences are much more fluid than earlier films and of course, we got more fun and, in some cases, insane action sequences to enjoy. There’s the opening scene where Brian and Mia break Dom out of a prison bus, there’s the first fight between Dom and Hobbs, and who can forget the scene where Dom and Brian literally drag a frigging safe through the streets of Rio. And yes, at this point, the series has really begun to defy all sorts of physics but with Lin’s solid direction, a terrific cast, and most importantly a real sense of fun, ‘Fast Five’ easily stands out amongst the six ‘Fast and Furious’ films that have come out. Again, who would’ve ever thought that at the time of its release, the fifth film in this series would ultimately end up being the best up to that point?

Rating: 4.5/5

FAST AND FURIOUS 6 (2013)

For my original review of the film posted on May 23, 2013, click the link provided below;

(http://rimoviecorner.blogspot.com/2013/05/fast-and-furious-6-2013-review.html)

At this point, I think it’s safe to say that this series has now realized exactly what it is; it knows it’s silly and over-the-top and it doesn’t care. It just rolls with it and doesn’t try to be something it’s not. That’s the best way I can describe ‘Fast and Furious 6’; it’s ridiculous, fast-paced, and it keeps defying physics with every action sequence it does. Plus, this film pulls quite the heck of a retcon by having it be revealed that Letty survived the events of the fourth film, albeit being affected with amnesia in the process. But it’s still just so damn entertaining to watch. The same positives that I noted for ‘Fast Five’ are once again present here; a terrific ensemble cast that has terrific camaraderie, another batch of awesome action sequences (the tank chase, that fancy flip car, the whole finale on the world’s longest runway involving a crashing plane, etc…), and so on and so on. But at the same time, there are some things in this film that I feel actually do improve on the previous film. For one thing, this film has quite frankly the best villain of the series to date in the form of Luke Evans’ Owen Shaw. His whole philosophy of regarding the members of his crew as ‘expendable’ is a cool contrast to the ‘family’ dynamic of Dom’s crew. Another great addition to the cast is Gina Carano as Hobbs’ assistant Riley. Her fight scenes with Rodriguez are some of the most badass moments in the entire film. Because of ‘Fast Five’, this was the first entry in the series that I was really anticipating and sure enough it did not disappoint in the slightest. In fact, this in, is my opinion, the best ‘Fast and Furious’ film to date.

Rating: 4.5/5

Ranking time!

6. 2 Fast 2 Furious

5. The Fast and the Furious

4. The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift

3. Fast and Furious

2. Fast Five

1. Fast and Furious 6