Movie Review: Fast Five

The formula has been working for over a decade now. 10 years after the first Fast and Furious movie with Vin Diesel and Paul Walker, Fast Five comes at us with the same ear-splitting action, hot chicks and mindless dialogue. I had personally skipped the last two installments. I actually thought 2 Fast 2 Furious was a bit underrated thanks to the hilarious Tyrese Gibson. I decided to give the 5th installment of the franchise a try mostly because the always entertaining Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson was on board.

There are a few things you have come to expect from this series of car heist films. 1. The drivers in the movie will always pull off the most ridiculous and implausible stunts in flawless fashion. 2. Most of the plot won't seem plausible at all. and 3. Vin Diesel will most definitely spout off some supposedly inspirational lines and sound like he's speaking with marbles in his mouth. All these expected occurrences happened as planned in Fast Five. Essentially if you can live with all of the flaws you will find yourself highly entertained.

The formula works because the general movie going public really does enjoy watching fast exotic cars, gunfire and good looking people mess around in Brazil. The Rock is the extra umph in this film that makes it worth the price of admission. It seems as if he's all roided up more than ever but he consistently comes through with classic one liners and that same bravado he is so natural at displaying in the wrestling ring. At age 39 it seems that The Rock may be finally on the path that Arnold Schwarzenegger's career was taking (Arnold filmed Predator at the same age). He now has enough clout to headline a film and the charisma to own any lead role. He really does have that same type of humor that Arnold used so well in his films. At the end of Fast Five (stay past the credits) it looks like things are lining up for Dwayne to return in Fast Six. The rest of the cast is servicable. Ludacris and Tyrese provide the comic relief. Paul Walker is a good 2nd in command to Diesel and Jordana Brewster and (the gorgeous former Miss Israel) Gal Gadot provide sufficient eye candy.

Overall this is exactly what you think it will be. Two hours of mostly non-stop action. With a PG-13 rating, director Justin Lin (who looks like he's given up on indie films) utilizes the one allotment of the f-word perfectly. The Rock is the lucky recipient of the line and delivers it right on point. He is most definitely the best thing about this movie. I'm going to have to give Fast Five 3.5 JR's. It was entertaining but not great. Worth a watch in the theater though because of the intense sound. Next on my list is Thor which opens this weekend and is getting surprisingly outstanding reviews so far.