Fast & Furious 6……. Film Review By Emperor Cole

The Fast & Furious 6 hit theaters a few weeks ago and did something no one expected it to do– it topped the Will Smith film After Earth and it wasn’t even close. In this 6th picture in the series the full cast returns as the stakes are raised where the fate of an entire country hangs in the balance.fast-6-castI never imagined that this movie franchise would last as long as it did– or even that I would get into watching it and enjoying it as much as I am now. I saw the original movie and the sequel– after “2 Fast 2 Furious” I abandoned the series  and even scoffed every time a new film was made. So Tokyo Drift and Fast & Furious — where the first dropped the word “The” from the title– I have NOT seen and don’t imagine I ever will. This new incarnation and model that Fast 5 and Fast 6 have taken have given this thing new life and many new directions that it can run in for a few more movies.

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The Pro’s

The formula that the storyline has taken is very good and entertaining. The fact that this street racing crew has gone from simple races for supped up autos to becoming international criminals who took down a crime syndicate and stole 100 million is about as “Bad Ass” as it gets. And now in  this film things take a James Bond-ish turn for the better as they take on a master  international criminal, who has his own team of speed racers and specialist. I thought this was a nice touch adding a team just as skilled as them who were able to do everything they could do– even get information on their counter parts quickly. At one point Roman (Tyrese) says “It’s like we’re chasing after our evil twins” pretty funny.  The storyline even has two plot twist that you will NEVER see coming and a new actor is introduced for the inevitable 7th movie at the very very end.

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The return of a believed to be dead character Letty (Michele Rodriguez)  was a risky thing to do for story purposes but the writers and producers pulled this off well. She is now the 2nd in command for Shaw who is international bad guy who is attempting to assemble a weapon that could be worth billions on the black market.  Her being alive was used a a plot device to spring the “retired” crew back into action and it is pulling on the heart strings of Torreto. (Vin Diesel) He has this undying sense of love and loyalty to her that forces him to work with Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) and go after the slippery criminal Shaw. (Luke Evans) A good portion of the film is dedicated to exploring the relationship between Torreto and Letty as he tries to chase her down to figure out what’s going on with her. It was done in good taste and director Justin Lin made sure not to make it too corny or overly sappy. Good Job with this because in the past Torreto is hellbent over whose sleeping with his little sister and it takes over too much screen time.

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The action is NON stop as you would expect from a movie with such a title. There are many chase sequences, explosions and fist fights that entertain on every level. The action is worked in well within the story too it’s not forced or there just for the sake of being there. Director Justin Lin has mastered this franchise and the art of storytelling with theses characters. The fight scene with Letty and Riley in the subway was INTENSE!! The only thing that one upped that was their next fight in the cargo airplane. These fights were great and without a doubt took a significant amount of planning and practice– but they came across as realistic on screen. Superb job by both of the actresses.

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Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson had another good performance as Luke Hobbs the Federal agent who is assigned to track down Shaw. He has a CLASSIC cinema moment that people will be talking about for years to come when he shoots the glass of a vending machine that Roman (Tyrese) is struggling with. PURE COMEDY. He has really taken over this series as the “star” along with Vin Diesel. Paul Walker’s character Brian is now more of a glorified role player– not sure if it was intend to happen that way but that’s what seems to have transpired. I see him becoming the true lead of the films eventually or even getting his own movies that focus on him being this law man who tracks down the  bad guys– could be a tv spin off.

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The Con’s

Okay now when you go to see any movie you HAVE to suspend your beliefs in reality and this is just a given. You can’t sit there saying “oh c’mon that’s not real” because if it were “real life” it wouldn’t be very entertaining now would it? Now with that said some of the action stunts that are pulled off in this film are truly AMAZING but then at the same time  it’s like the Director Justin Lin just excepts the movies for what they are– outrageous testosterone  filled action madness. And that’s alright by me. There is a scene were Torreto jumps from a moving vehicle that is doing like 100 mph and saves Letty from a mid air free fall and they conveniently land on another car without a scratch– yeah… uh yeah– like I said– you have to suspend your beliefs in reality while watching a movie. LOL fast-and-furious-6-jump

These movie always have someone jumping from one car to the next with absolutely NO GRAVITY affecting them….hey just go with it.

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One other thing that could have been better was the last action sequence where they have to fight with the bad guys and keep this cargo plane from taking off. For anyone who as already seen these scenes you know where I am going with this one. That without a doubt would have to have been a 10 MILE RUNWAY!!! They were fighting and throwing all kinds of gadgets to weigh the plane down so it couldn’t take off and while I’m watching this take place I’m thinking “at what point does this runway end???”– suspend your belief in reality… oh yeah right.

Overall this is the most entertaining movie I’ve seen all year but it will have some “Super” competition come June 14th. Fast & Furious 6 is a MUST SEE for all action fans and it will be added to my collection just like Fast 5 when it comes out on DVD.

MindBender Movie Meter Score

Fast & Furious 6………81%

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