Fast Five

The first film of the franchise that I watch, attracted by the very good reviews. What I got was precisely what I expected: very well made silliness. Some of the one-liners are funny, some are ridiculous. The action is pretty brutal, you can really feel the style and the energy, even if (especially by the end) it felt a little physically fairytale-like. It’s a watchable film and one of the best in the “summer action nonsense” category. (2011-08-25)

A contented smile spread across my face while I was watching the safe ripping up the asphalt from the streets of Rio. The screenplay is about as clever as for the preceding F&Fs, but they are all such nice guys and, as a fan of this genre, my jaw is constantly lying in my lap. In part five, it’s not so much cars, but muscles that are important. Diesel put on weight to make his fight with Dwayne “Rock" Johnson convincing, but The Rock (otherwise his Hobbs is tougher than a piece of flint and so he’s maybe unwittingly funnier than he is meant to be) seems to have gotten so psyched up that he looks even more massive than normal (damn, another reason to start going to the gym, but I wonder how long my eagerness will last). And the fight looks all the better for it, step aside Terminators. The cars and the girls (Jordana Brewster gets hotter with every episode) are delightful as always and the preparation for the heist with the now traditional T-shirt at the end is the icing on the cake. A shame that sometimes the “snappy" lines sound awkward, although Diesel delivers them in style, so you only notice this in the supporting roles. The biggest capo who saves the movie is the director, Justin Lin, who knows exactly what he’s doing and what the audience expects from this kind of movie. The post-credits scene made me look forward to number six even more. Bring it on. That's for my team, you son of a bitch. (2011-05-08)

Anyone who admired the old-fashioned approach two years ago of combining action movies with relentless car chases will praise Justin Lin even more this time around. The reason is that the exact same thing happened to me. Although the fourth installment was a very pleasant spectacle, it simply pales in comparison to the fifth in every respect. Here we've shifted into a much higher gear in terms of of speed and the result is a real action gem where you don't have to question whether you truly like it or if you're just kowtowing to the familiar faces. Because here, you won't even have time to catch your breath properly. This is especially true for the infernal final half-hour, which is so dazzling and deafening (in a good way) that it has rightfully elevated the franchise from being a familiar favorite to a massively visited series of blockbusters. And the biggest asset? Dwayne Johnson's beast of a character is his now iconic role. (2011-05-27)

An action-packed western with Rio instead of the Wild West, fast cars instead of horses and a drug kingpin instead of a railroad tycoon (the opening jump/fall into the water can be understood as picking up where Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid left off). The family subtext is needless and the action scenes are, to put it kindly, ridiculous, but if for no other reason (such as Gal Gadot), the heavy-duty confrontation between Diesel and the Rock prompts me to gladly forgive the film for its clumsy dialogue and disrespect for the laws of physics. A smarter spectacle would have come at the cost of leaving out the scene in which a ten-tonne safe attached to two racing cars cheerfully demolishes the streets of the Brazilian metropolis. Either take Fast Five with all of its testosterone-fuelled theatricality or forget that it even exists. 80% (2012-04-10)

This is the most honest bit of action in the last couple of seasons. After the demolitions of the digital Englishmen, the real stunt cars began to be destroyed at such a pace that Hollywood insurance people must have jumped out of their skin when they finally saw it. Lin manned up like few before him and fueled the tried-and-true blend of all the previous films, topping it off with the necessary octane by casting The Rock. Luke Hobbs, an overgrown, muscular beast, is brought in by an army transport special, and all hell breaks loose in a way that we would have looked for in vain in films that were originally about tuning, lots of nitro, and asses in tight shorts. Catchphrases can be heard all the time, there are some great action inserts, and then there is the fight we’ve wanted since Sylvester Stallone was rolled up by Steve Austin. The Diesel vs. Johnson fight is a physical bulldozer that breaks tables, knocks down walls, and still manages to exude that manly anger that such duels often lack. It all culminates in an action-packed ride through Rio de Janeiro that will have you running around like you did a year and a half ago in "Modern Warfare 2." An overflowing genre box. A regular aspirant for the Top 5 blockbusters of the year and a compliment to Lin. The Terminator idea suddenly looks very promising. (2011-05-14)