Released in 2011, (same year Coldplay’s fifth album Mylo Xyloto came out) “Fast Five” earned positive reviews from critics and movie goers alike. In addition to praise, the movie made over half a billion at the box office. As a fan of The Fast Saga, I wanna share my thoughts on the fifth entry before I see “Fast X.” These movies are my guilty pleasure growing up.
It doesn’t matter if SPOILERS are listed. A lot of us already seen The Fast Saga movies countless times and of course, Vin Diesel’s meme, “family.”
Fast & Slow Aspects
Fast: Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Jordana Brewster, Tyrese Gibson, Ludacris, Sung Kang & Gal Gadot reprise their roles. They all did an excellent job for their respective performances.
Vin also co-produced the fifth entry alongside Neal H. Moritz.
Newcomers to the series such as Dwayne Johnson & Elsa Pataky (Chris Hemsworth’s wife) both did a decent job for their respective performances.
Fun Fact: Tommy Lee Jones was considered for the of Luke Hobbs. Thanks to Facebook users demanding a fight between Vin & Dwayne Johnson, the latter immediately signed on to make an onscreen battle become a reality. Much like movie goers wanted to Jackie Chan VS. Jet Li. It came true in “The Forbidden Kingdom.”
Justin Lin returns to the director’s chair. He did a great job coordinating every scene.
Chris Morgan (Cellular, Wanted) wrote the script.
Action Sequences are much bigger than the last movies. Dom & Brian stealing Hernan’s bank vault is definetly worth a big payoff. No pun intended.
Fast Five’s set before “Toyko Drift.”
Humor has more funny moments. Especially Roman Pierce providing Comic Relief. It was Tyrese’s idea to turn Roman into the Comic Relief as a sign of Character Development, he got over his feud with Brian. He didn’t want to play a carbon copy of Dom in “2 Fast 2 Furious.” Whenever Roman does something funny, he earns an Extra Point per joke. He’s my favorite character in The Fast Saga.
Cinematography captures the action and car chases. Makes you feel like you’re in the passenger seat.
Brian Tyler (The Expendables 1-3, Far Cry 3, Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag) orchestrated instrumental tracks. Every time I witness Dom and his team in action with Brian’s music in the background, it feels like I’m watching “The Expendables.”
Chemistry between Dom, Brian and their teammates serve as the main highlight.
A microchip plays a pivotal role in the heist.
Luke delivers wrestling moves at Dom. Given Dwayne’s a former wrestler in the WWE, they really pack a punch. “Can you smell what The Rock is cooking!?”
We learn about Dom’s backstory about his father who used to take him and Mia to church and then have a family barbecue as a tradition. Brian mentioned his father left him at an early age. Now that’s what I call three-dimensional characters. Less forgettable than Ryan Reynolds’ in “Green Lantern.”
When Mia announced she’s pregnant with Brian’s kid, Dom’s motivated to steal Hernan’s money worth $100 million in order to support Brian & Mia’s future and leave the criminal world.
A Chase Scene in Brazil reminds me of Bruce Banner’s running from General Ross and the army from “The Incredible Hulk.” Louis Leterrier who directed Edward Norton’s Hulk, directs Fast X.
Vince from the first movie comes back to help our heroes. Only to die from his wounds.
After Hernan’s men kill Luke’s team, (except Elena) he avenges them by forming a temporary alliance with Dom. Eventually, delivers the final blow against Hernan. Fast X will tie to Hernan’s death. His son Dante (played by Jason Momoa) seeks to avenge his father.
My favorite quote from Roman. “This just went from Mission Impossible to Mission In-Freaking sanity!” It’s funny because “Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol” came out the same year as Fast Five.
Roman jokingly questions Brian’s new car. “Where did you get that from, Papa Smurf?” Coincidentally, “The Smurfs” came out two months after Fast Five.
Roman brings up Wyatt Earp. Kurt Russell later shows up as Mr. Nobody in “Furious 7.”
My favorite part that made me laugh hysterically was that one scene with Leo & Santos damaging a police station’s restroom. They break a pipe causing a row of toilets to explode like “The Goonies.” For an action movie, Fast Five has better comedy than these horrible comedies from 2011. That’s right, the exploding toilets is ten times funnier than these clunkers below.
- Jack and Jill
- Just Go with It
- Bucky Larson
- Spy Kids: All the Time in the World
- Fred 2: Night of the Living Fred
- Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules
- Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son
- Gnomeo and Juliet
- Your Highness
- Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked
- The Smurfs
- Hall Pass
- I Don’t Know How She Does It
- Madea’s Big Happy Family
- Hoodwinked Too! Hood VS. Evil
- Something Borrowed
- Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer
- The Change-Up
- The Sitter
- The Dilemma
A Mid-Credits Scene shows Eva Mendes reprising her role as Monica Fuentes from “2 Fast 2 Furious.” She gives Luke a photo of Letty still alive. Thus, setting up “Fast and Furious 6.” Keeps gettin’ bigger and better.
Slow: Product Placement is everywhere. Lexus, VW, Mitsubishi, Dodge, Dell, Apple, Nike & Panasonic.
The Final Verdict: A-
Fast Five is a near-perfect installment as well as my second favorite in The Fast Saga. Way better than Thor’s cinematic debut. I cannot wait to see Fast X. Which is intended to be the first part in a trilogy.
Nickthemoviecritic.com 