6.20.2013

2013's Most Anticipated: Fast & Furious 6

15. Fast & Furious 6 (PG-13) - Runtime: 130 minutes
Starring: Vin Diesel, Dwayne Johnson, Paul Walker
Director: Justin Lin

It's been fun to see this franchise evolve from a straight-up cop movie with fast cars to a straight-up heist movie with fast cars to an explosion-laden action fest movie with fast cars (and tanks!). I really thought the last movie hit all the right notes - you get everyone together to pull off an insane bank heist and then they throw in a bombshell after the credits (Letty's not dead!). And after watching the new movie, I honestly don't know how they're going to out-explode, out-run and out-tank this sixth part, because this one was epically spectacular (not enough radical adjectives could come even close to describing the mayhem put forth in the movie).

The team gets assembled once again to thwart a special ops mercenary gone rogue. The only way Dom's crew takes the job is if they get full immunity. Of course, The Rock (or Hobbs as he's known in the movies) complies and the movie never really lets off the gas from there. I honestly can't remember too much of the movie because there was a lot of action - I think the movie is about 3/4 action and the rest is talking about family and how that's important. Which isn't a bad thing - but the whole point of this franchise is to go big or go home and here they deliver.

So if you're looking for some thought-provoking character development, you can skip this one. Fast 6 doesn't care about that crap - it's all about how ridiculous these set pieces can get. And it does get ludicrous (yes, pun intended!) but I was never not entertained by the whole thing. It's a big mess of a movie (girl fights! Double crosses! Planes exploding!) and the franchise is pretty much self-aware of all this. Which is what makes it great - it embraces the insanity.

And if you stay past the initial credits another amazing tease makes you want to see the next movie right now. It's incredible that the series has managed to get better as time goes by, but credit the writers and producers for shifting the focus of the franchise away from just cars to something much bigger. This was a solid action movie and the only complaint was that the action could have been edited down, especially near the end - seriously, that runway was probably 20 miles long! That's just nitpicking really and this movie will have you anxiously waiting for the next!

Rating: See It!

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