Most movie franchises are well and truly jumping the shark by the time the fifth installment rolls around and the thoroughly ridiculous opener to Fast Five (AKA The Fast and the furious 5 AKA The Fast and the Furious 5: Rio Heist – the publicity material had all bases covered) suggests that this franchise may have reached that point.
For although the F&F films are well known for their dubious (albeit spectacularly exciting) car play, the opening scene in this episode stretches implausibility to a level which is hard to swallow even for these movies. It pays to only follow this film in the broadest of strokes as the details rarely add up.
The tagline from the previous film – ‘new model, original parts’ – is even truer this time around as Fast Five nicely consolidates all the entries to date by drawing together key figures from the previous four movies for ‘one last job’. Of course, by the time the movie draws to its conclusion it will be revealed that the films producers have at least one more ‘one last job’ up their sleeves.
But while the attempts to tie all the films together into an arc plot are admirable, the subsequent increase in reliance of character is problematic; partly because this cast isn’t the greatest bunch of actors in the world but mostly because it gets in the way of the cars which are the real stars of the franchise. We don’t want to hear these guys talk, we want to see them race!
It’s this scantness of street racing that represents the movies weakness. The car races are the battles of these films; it’s what makes them different and more exciting than other action flicks. Sections of this movie look more like Black Hawk Down than F&F and its uniqueness is diminished as a result. Dom Torretto (Vin Deisel) has transformed from tough ace driver to xXx who occasionally gets in a car and the film is lesser for it.
The dynamic between Paul Walker and Vin Deisel is diminished in this film also; theirs is much better when their rivalry is serious. Here, they’re just racing each other for fun; there’s no stakes involved and therefore little tension.
Could this be the beginning of the end for F&F? It’s too early to say. After all, the franchise looked cut and dried after Tokyo Drift only to be revived by the fourth installment. It does cement the theory, however, that the Diesel entries are the worthy ones as even this movie is superior to 2 Fast 2 Furious and Tokyo Drift.
There’s probably life left in the old girl yet but it needs a polish and an injection of nitrous oxide to get it back on track and up to speed.
Stuart Jamieson
