Rating of
3/4
Fast Five Channels Oceans Vibe with a Nitrous Kick
Chris Kavan - wrote on 05/01/11
Fast Five is a bit different than the other entries into this series. Sure, there are still fast cars and chases, but this has a definite Oceans 11 vibe to it being that they manage to wrangle just about every good character from previous films to create a the "ultimate" team of hackers, muscle and drivers in order to pull off an elaborate heist.
Seeing the old faces is good - while the second movie was kind of a bust for me, Tyrese and Ludacris were both welcome additions to the ensemble as were Sung Kang and Gal Godot. Each one brought just enough to the table to distinguish themselves even if their screen time had to split. Plus, the hallmark of any good ensemble cast - everyone looked like they were having a good time.
The newcomers were also welcome - here's the role Dwayne Johnson should play - looking more massive than ever - had one of the better fight scenes in recent memory when he went up against a similarly chiseled Vin Diesel. If it was possible for testosterone to come across visually, you would have gotten a monthly dose from their throwdown. Tego Calderon and Don Omar injected humor as a couple of bickering brothers and Joaquim de Almeida was in full on villain mode (much like Ramon Salazar in 24) as the main baddie of Brazil.
Acting aside, there was still plenty of action. An opening heist on a train and the a police chase involving a massive safe are the two key action moments in the film - though there are plenty more gunfights in between. Still, you do have to suspend your disbelief a bit and remember this is a Hollywood movie and not reality. Still, I don't go into Fast Five expecting realism, I expect to be entertained and in that aspect it delivers.
The safe chase alone has enough destruction to fill a few other movies - plus the Rock delivers one of the best revenge scenes because of how unexpected it turns out (at least I wasn't expecting it to go down like that). Plus, make sure to stick around after the credits - it looks like Fast Five won't be the last in the series and there's an unexpected surprise. Twist endings don't usually work, but the 4th film proved the series could reinvent itself and this 5th entry took a different route and was once again an all-around fun action film. If they can sustain this momentum, I don't see why I won't be back again.
