Fast & Furious 6 is the new installment in the Fast and Furious franchise, once again being directed by Justin Lin, who is no stranger to the films as he has directed the last three: Tokyo Drift (2006), Fast & Furious (2009), and Fast Five (2011). In its sixth installment, the film finds our crew Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) and Brian O’Conner (Paul Walker) have retired following the successful heist in Fast Five. But Agent Luke Hobbs (Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson) offers to clear the groups criminal records in exchange for helping him take down a highly skilled mercenary organization lead by Owen Shaw (Luke Evens), who is being helped by Dom’s presumed-dead lover Letty Ortiz (Michelle Rodriguez).
The movie starts off with a bang right after the title sequence and never stops until the end. This is a great summer action flick. Grab your popcorn and drink, because you’re in for an intense action ride that has you on the edge of your seat with excitement. If you thought Fast Five was action packed, wait until you see this! This is a franchise that started well and has had its ups and downs as far as stories, plots, and themes go. Certain actors have left, come back, left again, and so on. It’s a film series that is never once taken too seriously. It’s just simple fun, nothing more or less. It has fun characters getting into awesome cars, driving super fast and blowing everything up.
Vin Diesel and Paul Walker have been these characters for so long now it’s pretty clear to see they’re enjoying being them. They have a good chemistry together and a friendship that has built over the last five movies. We want them to win. As an audience that has spent many adventures with them, we want them to have their happy ending with their families.
When Fast Five came out, and hearing that The Rock was cast, I felt this was a no brainer. In fact, I wondered why it took him so long to enter the series. But when he did, he came in with a bang. Hell, I think The Rock is great! He really works well in action roles and falls into place with the rest of the crew in Furious 6. Diesel and him have a great understanding about each other in the movie, and it’s fun to watch them together. It was hard not to smile when they both gear up for the final fight. Just two huge dudes about to go break some skulls.
Like Fast Five, this movie needs all hands on deck so they bring all our favorites back for some more action, including Jordana Brewster, Tyrese Gibson, Sung Kang, Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, who have all grown into their characters and are quite good. They all seem to be having fun, and it shows on film. All have been in many of these movies at this point, they know what they’re making, and each bring good energy and humor to their scenes.
Adding some newcomers to the cast is Gina Carano (the former mixed martial artist), who has some damn fine fighting scenes. She knows what she’s doing, and with some good choreography she looks like such a badass. She has such smooth motions to her movements, adding to some great fight scenes. She looks to have a strong career in kicking ass in movies in her future.
Also added to the cast is the evil Owen Shaw, played by Luke Evens. You may not know Luke Evens from his name, but you will soon. Evens was just cast as the new gothic hero for the new installment of The Crow. He’s been in his fair share of action flicks in the past and has begun a solid acting career. He’s good, and he excels in being bad. He oozes ruthlessness with everything he says and the way he moves. You just get the vibe that he is always one step ahead of our heroes. Which makes him someone not to mess with.
As with all the other installments in the series, this one is not without it’s over-the-top amazing action scenes. But damn, this one has some awesome stuff. If you’ve seen the trailer then you know there’s a chase scene that involves a tank. It could be one of the best car stunts ever seen. Just like in the 2008 Bond film, Quantum of Solace, the car stunts here are in close quarters. Fast, intense, and with neverending action. The tank’s driven by our bad crew, and they have no care or thought to the human life they are destroying. There are so many cars being destroyed, and the best part is, this is just the ramp up to the incredible plane/car chase in the final act. Yes, it’s over-the-top, but isn’t that why you bought the ticket? If these films were set in realism, it would be the most boring franchise ever. Credit must be given to every single stunt driver who worked on this movie.
As with every movie that has some fun action, there is always some issues, such as the camera work that never really works. When it’s an action scene, everything seems to be working just right: camera angles, movements, and shots all working together to give you that adrenaline rush you need for the scene. But when they’re not in cars, the filmmakers fail. The camera becomes a lifeless object in which boring things are being filmed. Thank goodness the actors are great in the scenes making up for the lack of creativity. And the over use of the “Michael Bay 360 shot” in unforgivable. You find yourself getting dizzy when you should be listening to the somewhat important information being said at the time. If a filmmaker must use a “360 shot” it better damn well be motivated!
Over all this is a fun, action-pack popcorn flick that most will enjoy. If you’re a fan of the franchise, then you’re already happy. And if you’re just a fan of entertaining action flicks with fantastic car stunts and lots of shit blowing up, then you’ll be happy as well. This was better than it should have been for a sixth installment of a series we thought we knew everything about already. If you do plan on seeing it, when the flick is over stay in your seat. There is an awesome surprise for fans and amazing set-up for the seventh installment, and from what the surprise is, part seven could be the best one yet!