Post Fast Five the now-wealthy Brian O’ Conner (Paul Walker) is celebrating the birth of his son. Pal and fellow outlaw Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) advises O’ Conner on the responsibility of fatherhood and states with the seriousness of a Shakespeare-spouting thespian that their old life is behind them.
A giddy cackle bubbles up from the audience, it’s almost possible to hear their hearts shouting “Oh no it isn’t!” and this sets the tone for all that is to come. Watching Fast 6 is a bit like watching a 130 minute pantomime starring The Rock (or Dwayne Johnson if you wish to give him his Sunday name) who returns as DSS agent Luke Hobbs. Odd as this may sound it is not a criticism; unlike the Die Hard franchise, the studio seem to have a firm grasp of what audiences want from a Fast & Furious outing i.e. revving engines, high-speed chases, women who drive fast, punch hard and wear very little and completely unbelievable but visually impressive action set pieces.
The over-arching “plot” is negligible – something about ex-SAS Major Owen Shaw (Luke Evans) and a microchip. And if Paul Walker and Vin Diesel don’t drive their cars really, really fast then lots of people will die. The more interesting elements of the script are built around the resurrection of Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) which affords Rodriguez, Diesel and Gina Carano who plays Hobbs’s head girl, Riley some engaging and at times even tense moments. Also well-placed are the scenes in which the two rappers-turned-actors of the cast: Tyrese Gibson and Chris Bridges banter tirelessly with each other, adding a bit of fizz to otherwise flat exposition.
The film is a little long – Paul Walker at one point goes on a twenty minute soul-searching mission to LA that not even Vin Diesel wants to hear about – and the villain is underdeveloped, but the entertainment factor outweighs this unfortunate glitch and director Justin Lin makes the most of the London backdrop. You will spend a lot more time laughing at these characters than with them but as this isn’t a sequel to A Room With A View, this is probably of little consequence.
The set-up for the next, now inevitable instalment is guaranteed to put action fans in a spin.
Helen awarded Fast & Furious 6 Four Torches
