Fast & Furious 6

The sixth film was almost able to convince me that Luke Evans is the worst actor in the world if I didn't know him from his many great roles. But Fast & Furious is a genre unto itself, and can only raise the credit of certain actors. The likes of Gal Gadot got three films in the series as a patch for not getting noticed in Quantum of Solace, and over the years she's made it from debutante Miss to someone Disney pays homage to in Ralph Breaks the Internet. That's not bad at all. (2022-04-23)

Chris Morgan and Justin Lin knew what certainty they had in their hands, so it's a good thing they didn't have any reason to repeat themselves this time either. While the dialogue, after the previous simplification, have now ended up being nothing but slogans, wisdom, and catchphrases, the pace surprisingly slowed down and contrary to expectations, there is no exaggerated rush for any attraction. On one hand, that's a good thing because Brian can function as the main character thanks to his prison interlude; on the other hand, there is unexpectedly little happening in the first half. Nevertheless, the Furious gang easily reaches above average. In fact, some of the sequences really get your with their audiovisual concept (the race between Dom and Letty full of hypnotic atmosphere and well-deserved nostalgia), and the final inferno takes your breath away completely. And no, I'm not going to bother discussing the length of the runway in a movie where testosterone and gasoline can overpower absolutely anything. (2013-07-08)

For me, this installment of the film series is roughly on the level of the oft-mocked second part: well made, but otherwise pretty bad. Thieves turn into secret agents, cars get hacked while driving with Bond-esque contraptions, Letty's resurrection is delivered like something out of the worst possible soap opera, the bad guy is as bad a character as the good guys... Plus the annoying pathos, not to mention the action scenes, which with all their car-to-car, car-to-plane, and plane-to-car jumps just crawl tongue-in-cheek to reality. Not much to see here. (2020-05-20)

Lin has hit his limits, given that situations involving the characters and their emotional interactions elude him, taking his own feet from under him and in the final decision-making, he is unable to offer more than self-sacrificing glances and theatrical gestures. That’s assuming he doesn't fire off any major action bombs, but rather a still technically brilliant arrangement that has since last time abandoned any semblance of reality and ventured into the sci-fi genre (without a major highlight, moreover). This necessarily means a rough and painful fall that's ultimately hampered by the cast where everyone has parked themselves into their roles in a way that feels like they were just born for them. (2014-06-12)

... and the bubble burst. NOS² testosterone³ in an absolutely unnecessarily over CGIed action scene which is more like gameplay footage than a regular movie. For Lin, this is a sad return to a never-ending series of routine movies that don’t know when to stop. However much number five was surprising (and deserved) winner of the action premier league, number six is on the brink of relegation to the second league of yawnably familiar rubbish. (2013-05-23)