Good evening everyone! Tonight, we continue on the Fast & The Furious binge, as we continue the journey to reviewing the ninth installment that will be released later this month. In this case, we review the fifth sequel, with a very clever title. The one, and only, Fast Five!
Plot: After Brian (Paul Walker), Mia (Jordan’s Brewster), and a few other people bust Dom (Vin Diesel) out of a bus heading to a jail in California, the crew flee the US, and head to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. But when they discover that a drug lord named Hernan Reyes (Joaquim de Almeida) is stealing money for diabolical purposes, it is up to Brian, Dom, Mia, and the gang to stop Reyes, all the whike having to flee new authorities from the US in the form of Luke Hobbs (Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson), Elena Neves (Elsa Pataky), and their police team.
Wow! Wow! Wow! Right off the bat, Fast Five is most definitely one of the strongest, if not the strongest of The Fast & The Furious movie franchise. First of all, the story ends up being stronger than any of the four before it combined. Now how often does that happen, considering sequels aren’t often all that good, especially after the second, maybe even third movie in a movie sequel series? Anyway, both the old characters, and the newer characters that have come along in some of the recent sequels before this one, get developed surprisingly well. Not only that, but we get a rather interesting back story from one of the main characters that we never heard before you until this point. After hearing about it, you may find yourself wondering if that character had started to make the decisions that he did, you know? Also, in regards to how some of the other main characters are feeling with certain things that they’re going through, you seem to get something like an Aladdin & The King Of Thieves sort of vibe, but maybe a little better. Now, about the newer characters that come in the for the first time, the main newer ones are really great. You especially get Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson as Luke Hobbs, along with Elsa Pataky as Elena Neves. Let me tell you, they work well off of each other. Not to mention that they are both very complex in terms of having this love/hate relationship towards the main people that they are trying to catch. Oh, and there is also the villain of this film, Hernan Reyes. Joaquim de Almeida makes an excellent performance as this guy. In fact, one could possibly argue that he does as great of a job, if not better than, his performance as someone like Ramon Salazar in the third season of the 24 TV series. Sure, the actor may play the same type of role in both cases, but still. And how could I fail to mention Tyrese Gibson as Roman Pearce? Oh my gosh! Let me tell you that if you like one liners, and comedic lines from comedians like Eddie Murphy, Robin Williams, or some of those guys, you might find yourself enjoying Tyrese’ character onscreen as well, especially in this film. He basically has served as the comic relief. Let me tel you, he does NOT disappoint. When you laugh at some of the things he says, or jokes he makes, you will nearly laugh so hard that it will be hard to stop for a hit afterwards. Now that’s the definition of good comedy there. The movie also does an overall great job of developing newer relationships that form throughout the course of this particular film. Additionally, even if there may be a little bit of sensuality here and there, at least it’s not thrown in your face that much, especially when it came to the first film. As for the music, it captures especially what the culture of Rio de Janeiro is like. In addition to all of this, the movie has a nice message about how others need to learn to stick together, even when it may not be easy to do so. And one more thing! The story of this Fast & The Furious film is most likely stronger, and a little more engaging than the other four films that came before it. I can’t help but wonder if maybe not nearly as many people liked the other four films, or if the filmmakers were trying to find a way to make this series much more better. You got me!
And that’s my review for Fast Five. It has characters that you care for more than before, nice messages, and an overall improved story. It does without saying that this sequel is a must-see of the five films thus far. Can the same be said about 6, 7, and 8? We shall see soon? Oh, and one final thing! Make sure you watch the credits at least until it gets to the mid-credits scene! Let me just say that it is a good cliff hanger for the next Fast & The Furious sequel.
Final Grade: A+
Matthew’s Animated & Live-Action Movie Reviews 