Thursday, May 30, 2013

Fast and the Furious 6



By: Robert Murphy

It has been a long time coming since we saw the end of “Fast and the Furious 5” and how it teased us with what we had coming our way in “Fast and the Furious 6” and now we finally get to see what has been going on behind the scenes and right under our noses, while Dom (Vin Diesel), Brian (Paul Walker) and their team were doing what they had to do and I just hope they are ready for what’s in store. This time around though Dom is faced with ghosts from his past as Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) comes to him for help in taking down a bigger threat than Dom’s team ever was. Enter former British special forces solider Owen Shaw (Luke Evans) and his team who are pulling off high level robberies with the use of vehicular assaults and warfare but with an added twist, Letty. Yes, Letty is still alive and is working with Shaw and his team and in order to put a stop to it and get back what he’s lost Dom and his team are going to take down Shaw and get Letty back.

 Just what did happen to Letty?

As it ever was, the highlight to “Fast and Furious” movies is the cars, and oh God, is there some beautiful cars this time around. “Fast 6” pulled no punches and spared no expense when showing of some of the world’s top of the line precision vehicles.  While of course we don’t ever get to enjoy these beautiful pieces of machinery for very long in these movies they are incredibly nice to see, right up to the point where your heart sinks as they crash into a wall, go over a cliff or get smooshed by oh I don’t know, let’s say a tank. Yes, cars aren’t the only main attraction we all come to expect from a “Fast and the Furious” movie, we also expect to see over-the-top and crazy stunts with these cars and in that regard “Fast 6” laid out all it could, all be it some of the stunts were a little much even for me though. But as with every sequel to an over-the-top action film, the theme is to go bigger and more outrageous than the previous bigger and outrageous film that came before it and “Fast 6” succeeds in that department. While not revealing too much about the movie, scenes like the first appearance of Shaws custom car that can flip vehicles and launch them through the air shows just how much crazier things get this time around.



Shaw's flip car

The other appeal that “Fast 6” comes with is the group of actors and actresses that are involved with the movie and the underline theme of the movie itself and that theme is “family” and how you never turn your back on it. This family has a few big names in it with Tyrese Gibson (Roman), Ludacris (Tej) , Sung Kang (Han) and Gal Gadot (Gisele) are all returning to their roles and playing them perfectly and at the same time adding even more personality to their roles. Each of our cast gets their own bit of screen time added in, one scene in particular involving Hobbs and Tej being snub by a rich car dealer was particularly enjoyable for me as well as any moment where Roman had a chance to but in with his big mouth was just gold. But we also can’t forget about who brought this team together, Dom has a lot on his mind this time around with Letty being brought back into his life and the chemistry between them is even stronger than it was in the original “Fast and the Furious” movie. Where in the first movie Letty and Dom seemed to have a raw attraction towards each other, this time around you see just how much he cares about her and all they had and what he is prepared to do to save it.

 Gang's all here

Now this is a “Fast and the Furious” movie so crazy stunts and action are sure to follow, as I’ve mentioned earlier but there are moments where even I found myself rolling my eyes, mainly due to the cliché nature of certain moments. This wasn’t a huge issue for me since there was only one truly bad eye roll moment that I had while watching the movie and it would probably go ignored by a majority of those of you who see the movie. Also “Fast 6” suffers from a certain level of predictability as the story is coming full circle and tying up all the loose ends that wouldn’t match up with the story we’ve seen so far. But these are performed well and aren’t just plopped into the movie just because they needed to be there and as a fan of the “Fast and the Furious” movies right from the beginning, this was very pleasing.

 Drooling!

Overall, “Fast and the Furious 6” doesn’t disappoint a fan of the series like myself; it is still an adrenaline filled class of movie with fast and absolutely beautiful cars with a little more to it than it did way back when I first laid on the original “Fast and the Furious.” All of the actors shined as they did when they were first brought together in “Fast 5” and give a wonderful performance that really makes the on screen theme of “family” feel real. Of course there are those crazy action scenes throughout the film but hey it is a “Fast and the Furious” movie, would you expect anything different? And if you did then you clearly don’t know the series well at all.

Good:

-Amazing job by all the characters

-Oh God, those beautiful cars

-Over the top action that you wouldn’t believe till you see it

Bad:

-A few eye rolling moments, even for a seasoned action movie goer
-
Level of predictability that made moments in the movie not impact as they were meant to

Scully Rating: 7.5 out of 10

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