***2013 RECAP*** MOVIE REVIEW | Fast and Furious 6

Until a year or so ago, my history with The Fast and the Furious franchise consisted of half watching the first one on DVD back when it came out.  Then, last year, something amazing happened.  I watched Fast and Furious 5 and my mind was blown.  Usually the kind of movie I avoid, I was worn down by a wave of positive reviews and gave it a go.  It turns out it’s in the same genre of hyper self-aware action movies like the Crank films and Shoot ‘Em Up.  While regular action movies bore me, the sense of humour the above mentioned titles have about themselves make them really fun.  And Fast and Furious 6 knocks it up a notch.

So after the heist in 5 made the regulars millionaires, The Rock, their pursuer in 5, tracks down Vin Diesel’s Dom and gets the ball rolling in part 6.  There’s another pack of thieves out there using cars and they include Diesel’s ex, played by Michelle Rodriguez, who it turns out died in one of the earlier movies…  Or did she?  No.  No she did not.  But there’s no point explaining the plot more than that.  Mainly because I don’t really remember it, I didn’t pay any attention to the plot.  This movie is too kickass to concern itself with a coherent plot.  Keep up.

All you need to know is, they get the gang back together and drive some super sweet cars super fast.  Boring Paul Walker is back and so his boring missus.  This time though, they procreate a boring kid.  So he has something to fight for, I guess.  Again, the plot stuff only ever gets in the way of the awesome.  But when it does get out of the way, the awesome flows and it’s awesomely awesome.

The addition of The Rock really is genius.  He’s a good actor who knows just how much cheese to bring to a movie like The Fast and the Furious 6.  He never quite winks at the camera, but there’s just enough there to let you know that he’s in on the joke and having a ball.

The car scenes are always impressive.  This is the director’s third crack at the franchise and he’s obviously learned how to shoot an exciting car chase and whatever other loopy insanity the writers come up with.  Plenty of it is so overblown that it loses all believability, but I’m fine with that.  In a movie like this, more really is more.

I’m still wary of everything in the franchise that preceded part 5 and have no desire to ever see them.  And luckily, the opening credits of 6 breezes through a highlights package of them all, so I never have to.  But I know I’ll definitely be lining up for Fast and Furious 7, and not just because of the part 6 end credits sequence showing that Jason Statham will be in the next one.  I can’t wait to see what insanity they come up with to keep this crazy train barely on the tracks.

Fast & Furious 6
Directed By – Justin Lin
Written By – Chris Morgan