Fast & Furious 6 Review

For the record, the onscreen title of this movie is "Furious 6".  It's intended to complement the title of the previous installment "Fast 5".  Get it?  Maybe the studio didn't want to confuse moviegoers into thinking that this had anything to do with the Furious 5 from "Kung Fu Panda".  If that was the case, then the filmmakers should have probably removed the scene where Vin Diesel dresses up in a panda suit, drives really fast while eating a bowl of noodles then gets into a chopsocky fight with The Rock, who's dressed as Grandmaster Flash.

Yeah, I made that up.  That scene doesn't really exist. . . but it should.

Okey dokey, time for a quick rundown.  Here's the part of the review where I briefly touch upon past history before getting to the heart of the matter.  For those too impatient to skim forward, I will just say this - "Fast & Furious 6" is nearly as good as "Fast 5", which I consider to be the pinnacle of the series thus far.  Moviegoers looking for serious, artsy filmmaking probably shouldn't have clicked on this review in the first place, but to those looking for a great action flick, well, here it is.


The Fast and the Furious (2001)

Inspired by a nonfiction article about street racing in Vibe magazine, taking its title from a 1955 car jockey flick, and very obviously pillaging the plot of 1991's "Point Break" (supplanting surfboards with cars), this is nonetheless a solid urban action/drama from director Rob Cohen and "the one that started it all".  The races and stuntwork in this movie are downright quaint compared to the later sequels, but it had a heart and a theme which helped it rise above the usual action fare.


Better Luck Tomorrow (2002)

This isn't "officially" part of the F&F series, says the movie studio (for legal reasons).  I, however, respectfully disagree.  Directed by Justin Lin, this well-made Asian-American-centric crime drama introduces the character of Han, played by Sung Kang, who would later show up as a recurring character in the F&F series when director Lin takes over.  Most Han fans agree with me.


2 Fast 2 Furious (2003)

"Boyz N the Hood" director John Singleton takes the reins and Vin Diesel is nowhere to be found in this cheesy action sequel.  It's more colorful, more pulpy and more CGI-heavy than the original but still kind of fun.  And it's a hoot to make fun of the silly title.


The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006)

Here's where Justin Lin takes over the series and where Han makes his initial appearance in the series.  This movie is incredibly devisive.  Some fans think of it as the very worst entry, others feel that it's one of the best entries.  I'm split down the middle with this one:  it's decent, not great.  Also, the question of where the events of this movie fall into the timeline of the series has been a long-running mystery - until now (thank you F&F6).


Los Bandoleros (2009)

A short film directed by Vin Diesel which serves as a direct lead-in to the events of the next movie.  It's really quite a laid back little flick.


Fast & Furious (2009)

Justin Lin reunites the cast of the original movie for this entry, and it paid off.  At the time, this was the best of the sequels, but the series wouldn't cross the line from guilty pleasures to legitimately good action flicks until. . .


Fast Five (2011)

Not only did Justin Lin bring back the core cast of characters, but he also assembled a whole team of returning side characters from all of the previous movies for an "Avengers"-style blowout.  Then he threw in the Rock for good measure.  Featuring the most well-made action sequences in the series thus far and providing a satisfying emotional payoff for all the longtime fans, "Fast Five" is fantastic.  But it was just the tip of the iceberg - little did we know that Lin and screenwriter Chris Morgan had dreamed up a trilogy of films to close out the series.  So if "Fast Five" is "A New Hope", then the equivalent of "The Empire Strikes Back" must be. . .


Furious 6 (2013)

Alright, this is no "Empire Strikes Back", but it's still really good.  Vin Diesel's character, Dominic Toretto, turns out to be the father of Paul Walker's character, Brian O'Connor.

No.

The Rock's character (Hobbs) needs the help of Toretto and his cohorts in order to catch European criminal Owen Shaw (Luke Evans) and his crew, who are out to steal a fancy shmancy microchip, or something, which will cause the deaths of lots of innocent people.  Details are unimportant - it's a Macguffin.  The point is this: Toretto and his team are facing off against a team of people who are what they once were - dirty rotten criminals.  It's kind of fascinating to watch this series and see the progression of the main team from bad guy lawbreaking thieves to Robin Hood-style outlaws to full-on good guys.  It's just like Godzilla in the 60s and 70s, only with more hip hop.

For the next two hours we get to watch as Shaw and Toretto's teams clash in metal-crunching fury, dramatic plot twists hit with the subtle hammer of a daytime soap opera, one-liners fly with reckless abandon, and the series theme of family is clearly underlined in red crayon.  It's not Tolstoy, but Justin Lin knows how to get the job done, directorially speaking.  There's not one, but two crazy climactic action sequences.  Not one, but two knock-down dragout fights between returnee Michelle Rodriguez and newcomer/MMA champ Gina Carano.  There's a bone crushing tag team fight with Diesel and the Rock fighting side-by-side against Shaw and his giant tattooed henchman.  There's a bruiser of a battle with Joe Taslim (from "The Raid: Redemption) versus Han (Kang) and Roman (Tyrese Gibson) which is just hilarious.  And there is DEATH.

The only real flaw in this movie is that there are too many characters.  You have Diesel and his team, Shaw and his team, Hobbs and his team, plus a couple more newly returning characters from previous installments.  Thankfully, Diesel and Hobbs and the good guys all have ample character progression and get to have their shining moments in the sun.  Like the previous movies, however, it's the villains who don't get much to work with.  Evans' Shaw is probably the best F&F villain so far, but he's still woefully underdeveloped compared to those in other franchises.  Nonetheless, he fits the bill nicely.

The movie also gets quite ridiculous now and then, even moreso than previous entries.  Vin Diesel flying through the air like Superman is more hilarious than harrowing, and the end action sequence with the plane that's taking off - damn.  It goes on for a long time, meaning that the runway must be about 35 miles long.  But here's a little peek into my movie mental justification process, using the F&F6 plane sequence and the scene in "Star Trek: Into Darkness" where the Enterprise is orbiting the Klingon homeworld woefully undetected, as contrasting examples:

In the Earth portrayed in the "Fast and Furious" movies there exists a military airbase in Spain which has a runway that's 35 miles long.  That's my justification.  Why in the world would it be necessary to have a runway that lengthy?  Do they have super giant planes?  I don't know, but the fact is, according to what I've seen in "Fast & Furious 6", one exists in that world.  End of story.

In "Star Trek: Into Darkness", it's apparent that there are no perimeter sensors, no defense grids, and no telescopes on the Klingon homeworld.  In the "Star Trek" world, this is just preposterous and unjustifiable by me.  You're telling me that the greatest, most aggressive warrior race in the galaxy has no defenses around their home planet?  Maybe, I once thought, there was some kind of planetary catastrophe which downed all of their systems and grounded their ships, but this is false because, in the movie, Kirk and Spock's tiny stealth ship is easily discovered in the vast Klingon wasteland by a random patrol.  I just can't justify this oversight so, therefore, it bugs the hell out of me.

Meanwhile, in the F&F movies, runways are super long and cars are far more durable than they are in the real world.  This has all been clearly established, end of bitching.

In summary, "Fast & Furious 6" is another damn good time at the movies and another treat for fans of the franchise.  So what's next for Diesel and company?  "Fast & Furious 7: Slow & Mellow" is due in theaters summer of 2014 (that's not the actual title) to close out the series, and the Rock's character, Hobbs, is getting his own spinoff movie.  I can't wait.

Be sure to stick around after the end of the movie.  There's another one of those post-credits stingers which you are going to need to watch.  It introduces the main villain of the next installment and the cool actor who's playing him.  There was much gasping and many flying expletives at the screening I attended.