Review of Fast Five (2011) by Oliver H — 26 Oct 2013

I really don't like movies made for petrol heads, but I admit that Fast Five (alternatively known as Fast & Furious 5 or Fast & Furious 5: Rio Heist) wasn't bad at all - of course if you love action all the way. Written by Chris Morgan and directed by Justin Lin, it is the fifth instalment in the Fast and the Furious film series following Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel), Brian O'Conner (Paul Walker) and Mia Toretto (Jordana Brewster) as they plan a heist to steal $100 million from corrupt Rio businessman Hernan Reyes (Joaquim de Almeida) while being pursued for arrest by U.S. Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) agent Luke Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson).

I'm glad that Universal Studios deliberately departed from the street racing theme prevalent in previous films in the series, to transform the franchise into a heist action series involving cars - at least people like me could watch it now with some enjoyment. That was the plan anyway, to attract wider audiences that might otherwise be put off by a heavy emphasis on cars and petrol heads car culture. Fast Five is considered the transitional film in the series, featuring only one car race and giving more attention to action set pieces such as gun fights, brawls, and the heist of $100 million. I am still not sure about the quality of this movie - is there any real substance - or the perception of the movie is heavily affected by the comprehensive marketing campaign (social media, virtual games, cinema chains, automobile manufacturers and NASCAR races).

At the end, I liked the combination of comedy and action sequences that ignore any laws of physics but I would not praise it too much. For everyone who wants to kill time with lots of action shots and brainless fun!