Review of Fast & Furious 6 (2013) by Clintus M — 12 Feb 2014

I love the combination of Vin Diesel and Dwayne Johnson; they breathed fresh air back into this franchise with the previous action-numbing installment. This time the scope and action sequences reach even more outlandish heights of dizzying proportion.

In order to keep audiences interested, the producers of the Fast and Furious franchise have to keep "upping the ante." The results of this geometric increase in both scope and stunt sophistication is a decidedly mixed bag. It is undeniably exciting but I found myself laughing at many of the grandiose special effects, not amazed at them. This series began with street racers hijacking trucks and the police doing anything they could to stop them. I personally liked the backstories as well. The series is now crescendoing to a farcical monstrosity of international intrigue, complete with globe-trotting cops and bad guys. That formula works well in the James Bond franchise, but here I find the recipe less palatable.

I personally could overlook the previously-assumed dead Letty's reappearance and amnesia as well as a tank flying around a highway, but the sheer spectacle of the visuals do not compensate for the unimaginative plot and poor character development. I like all the principal characters; Dwayne Johnson was a fantastic addition to the series. I don't feel the danger or care about the characters enough in this installment though. The chemistry is still there, but Fast and Furious feels more like a video game and less like street-level people you care about now. Adjectives like implausible and unrealistic have given way to inconceivable and nonsensical. Remember your roots guys.