PROPOSTERONE

MOVIE REVIEW:

FAST AND FURIOUS 6

By:
G.P. Manalo

Starring:

Vin Diesel

Paul Walker

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson

“The Fast and Furious” films have come a long way from being a throw-away-repetitive action film to being a rather clever and enjoyably exhilarating action film since “Fast Five” and it is all because of director, Justin Lin who did take a whole new road for the franchise. Fast and Furious 6 seem to be filling up holes from the past 3 films and at the same time continue to deliver the “badass” action film as its past predecessor.

The Fast and the Furious 6 – When an international group of terrorists (Luke Evans and the Wild Bunch) seeks to threaten the world, Lt. Hobbs (Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson) forced Dom Toretto (Vin Diesel) and Brian O’ Conner (Paul Walker)  to reassemble their "Rio-heist" team and when they do stop this group of terrorists they will get full pardons for their past actions.

Honestly, going into Fast Five I thought that it will be just another one of those action movies where I’d get out of it and say “It’s just an action film that you have to leave your brain outside of the theater and enjoy the utter stupidity on screen” but it actually wasn’t – technically. Fast Five knew what it is, it is self-aware that “yeah, we have our own laws of physics” and that it is a dumb yet enjoyably exhilarating ride of your life and Fast and the Furious 6 was definitely an enjoyable roller coaster ride I ever have so far in 2013.

If you are expecting the Oscar Season will be early this summer you will definitely leave the theater disappointed  if you are expecting that as you watch this film because Fast & Furious 6 is not entirely the art-house film you are expecting it to be. The film offers larger than life action scenes regarding cars, a tank and a plane, men and women beating the shit out of each like they’re Godzilla and a random monster (at the same time) that will probably piss off every physicist out there.

The action in this film is everything you wanted for a summer movie blockbuster and they are definitely worth the price of admission and there are tons of non-stop action sequences in this film. If you thought the first 4 films in the franchise are pretty boring for just two (or more) cars just going at each other wait till you see what this film will offer (especially the second half of the film). Thankfully, the action scenes in this film are coherent; you can tell exactly what is going on without the help of “artistic use of the camera” (Shaky Cam) or speedy jump cuts.

The plot is solid, the film did have a decent amount of substance as it does deliver a surprisingly good family element in the film due to the cast’s well fleshed out chemistry to one another, If you have been following the franchise from the very start and you have been invested by the characters in the past films, the investment does pay off. This film did fill up most of the holes the past 3 films have and you will be surprised who and what will pop up in each scene if you have been following the film from the very start (which I do recommend for a better experience).

 

I’m not really going to go into detail with the cast that much, for the material they were given they did give out a solid performance and as I said earlier I thought that they did work well together, they literally do feel like a family. These people are not the best actors but their real life charm does work in the film (though I don’t know if Paul Walker even has charm due to his stoic personality). Action stars like Vin Diesel, Dwayne Johnson, Paul Walker (kinda an action star) were all badass as always and also the rest of the team. While the returning cast like Michelle Rodriguez also did a solid performance as she does go back with a reveal that is rather passable, Tyrese Gibson and Ludacris were the two people that I noticed the chemistry between characters and both of them did spew out very good comedic dialogue together.  The remaining cast leaves off as just “solid”

New comers like Luke Evans and Gina Corano were just average from the material they are given. I liked Luke Evans as a villain in this film; he is the most fleshed out villain in the series, I’ve always thought the past 5 films didn’t really have much of a villain in the past films (Braga was not even close). In this film we get a villain where he actually gets his hands dirty and actually does something that just sitting down in a chair barking threats and orders. Gina Carano on the other hand is yet to impress me in future films, she still haven’t convinced me that she is an action star just yet but she is physically impressive in this film as she goes toe to toe with most of the cast in this film.

In the end, I enjoyed Fast and the Furious 6 very much. It is the most fun I had in the summer and I’m sure you will have fun too in the theaters. It is meant to be experienced in the big screen and I highly recommend you see it in that format. If you were never a fan of the Fast and the Furious films, I don’t think this will change your mind about the series and if you are expecting this to be an Oscar winning film that scientifically makes sense then you should avoid the film. The film lives up to the title because it is definitely fast and furious (and it is the sixth film of the series) as it features well shot and exhilarating yet larger than life action sequences, a solid story, great characters, and it did do a good job at being what it is. Overall it is a well-constructed action film for what it is and I highly recommend you go in to the film expecting that for you to enjoy it.

NOTE: Stay for the after credits scene, the reveal was very surprising… (If you don't have friends who spoil you that part of the movie... Thanks a lot, Lee) 

THE GOOD:

+ FUN ACTION SCENES

+ SOLID PERFORMANCES AND STORY

+ GOOD CHARACTERS AND CHEMISTRY BETWEEN THEM

+ SELF-AWARE

THE BAD:

NONE.

MY RATING:

(FOR WHAT IT IS)

5/5 – EPIC WIN!