This is the film that single-handedly got me to give the rest of the series a shot, for better or worse. It's a nice change of pace from the previous films where it abandons the street race angle (how far could you have taken that anyway?) and goes into the direction of a heist action flick with cars. Dwayne Johnson is a great addition and really adds to the series embracing the goofiness of its premise. So yeah, still the best this franchise had, and that's kind of rare for a franchise on its fifth film. The action for the most part is really handled well and a lot of fun to watch. The cast as an ensemble are very charismatic which no doubt makes it more fun for audiences to see a cast that has so much diversity and it's not done with generic stereotypes but just a bunch of people with a common interest. Overall a very entertaining action flick.
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Terryfan3 April 2015Now when a long running series like The Fast And The Furious get sequels it is always a challenge to go out and try impress movie goers.
However the series always tops itself with the recent sequels and Fast Five proof that's anything is possible with the right minds.
The plot this time take place after Fast and Furious 4 left all with Brian O'Conner played by Paul Walker, Dominic Teretto Played by Vin Diesel, Mia Toretto played by Jordana Brewster head for Brazil to escape the law after a job with Vince Played by Matt Schulze went wrong.
Which leads to them being hunted by Luke Hobbs Played by Dwayne Johnson who along with Elena Played by Elsa Pataky begin to hunt them down.
Also returning are Roman Played by Tyrese Gibson, Tej Played by Chris 'Ludacris' Bridges, Han Played by Sung Kang, Gisele played by Gal Gadot.
Reyes Played by Joaquim de Almeida who serves as the Film Main Antagonist.
Story wise the plot is very good because it features the return of many of the characters from the series which is very good and moves the series along. Plus the film requires you to pay attention or you'll miss something. Plus you see the characters grow in this film from the last films.
What drives the film like the other films is that the stunts from start to finish that defines The Laws of Physic and why I love this series because the cast and crew are always driven to push the limits and hold nothing back, Fast Five is the example of it.
There is just a lot for this film that I recommend seeing for yourself where you'll be amazed and how you can do a sequel with the right minds.
With awesome stunts, great action and plot you'll be glad you watch this film.
I give Fast Five an 8 out of 10 -
UniqueParticle26 January 2020Amazing action, cars, solid story, comedic, and very entertaining! What more could you ask for except for epicness! I love all the badness in it and Tyrees Gibson is always a delight so is everyone else. Great Fast and furious for any fan of the series or not. Exhilarating as well too!
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tilak7 March 2014I had always loves the series and enjoyed all of them.This one ships with usual cliché and storyline.The chases are hair raising,dialogs are solid,and there are plenty of funny lines.All of this makes fast five a must watch although suspension of belief if always there in Hollywood entertainment movies.This film follows a tight script with lots of twists and turns although all of them may not surprise you.Plot is really convincing and carried forward by amazing cinematography and editing.Director cleverly choose between amazing camera angles,which editor had turned into a edge of the seat scenes. This film never misses the beat even when there are short emotional moments in the movie.
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Fast Five (2011) is one of the best Action heist films of all 5. film series of all time. This film reunites all actors from the previous films. Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Jordana Brewster , Tyrese Gibson , Chris 'Ludacris' Bridges, Matt Schulze, Sung Kang, Dwayne Johnson, Gal Gadot, Tego Calderon and Don Omar, the gang are all here! They are all cast from the previous installments.
The Director brings all new actors in the cast crew: Joaquim de Almeida, Dwayne Johnson and Elsa Pataky. The script, the players, the action scenes, the story. Everything about this film is awesome! This film kicks ass. Is my second favorite best film in the series franchise. This film for me even beats Furious 7. Cause Furious 7 is not that good as this film is. The far of the highest best films ever. It's actually probably my favorite movie that I've ever seen. If you like any of the other fast and furious movies SEE THIS ONE!!!!! It's a Epic movie watch it till all the way to the end.
Fast Five picks up, literally, right where Fast & Furious left off. Dom (Vin Diesel) is on his way to prison when his partner, former undercover detective Brian O'Conner (Paul Walker), and his sister Mia (Jordana Brewster) stage a daring (albeit highly unlikely) prison-bus break. On the run from the police, the FBI and the media, the three hightail it across the border and head even further south, all the way to Rio de Janeiro. There, they decide to lay down, lay low and avoid any unwanted attention. Nah, I'm just kidding. They do what any international fugitives would do: rob a train, double cross a local crime lord named Hernan Reyes (Joaquim de Almeida) and his right-hand man Zizi (Michael Irby), put themselves on the radar of a ludicrously musclebound U.S. Diplomatic Security Service agent (Dwayne Johnson), and set out to steal untold millions from Reyes. That's right, it's One Last Heist for Dom and Brian. Not that anyone should be foolish enough to think this is the last we'll see of the led-foot duo; not after Fast Five revved up $600 million at the worldwide box office. (Be sure to sit through the first chunk of end credits for a nice little surprise.) Fast Five boasts incredible action scenes that are all varied and equally exciting. The film is full of clean, well choreographed shots that are easy to watch and the cast works great as a whole unit, making the film's running time breeze by. The heist in Rio De Janeiro was amazing An energetic, high-octane. The film was brilliant and smart it was action fun Entertained. The fight scenes between Dwayne Jonson and Vin Diesel was tremendous. I was happy that they put someone (Dwayne Jonson) in the movie that was so smart like Dom (Vin Diesel) was. Luke Hobbs as A Diplomatic Security Service agent to track down Dom and his crew was awesome! He did a brilliant job In this Action packed sequel film! Just Lin deliver us a high octane Action packed story filled with full of cars and shootings in his film.
Vin Diesel, Paul Walker and Dwayne Johnson lead this all-star all-action movie with outrageous stunts, incredible cars and beautiful girls that pushes the limits into the red and beyond! The legendary Dom Torreto (Vin Diesel) partners with outlaw cop Brian O'Conner (Paul Walker) on the opposite side of the law in exotic Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Hunted by ruthless Agent Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) and an army of corrupt cops working for a deadly drug kingpin. Torreto and O'Conner reunite the gang from previous Fast adventures to pull off one last job - an insane heist worth $100 million!
"Five Times The Action!, Five Times the Fury!"
I love this film to death and I love how they were planning to rob a Police Station. The first half was a little boring, but the second half was fast paced entertained filled with action. I love this film and everything about it. I love that it is 2.hrs long so that it can tell the whole story.
When developing Fast Five, Universal Studios deliberately departed from the street racing theme prevalent in previous films in the series, to transform the franchise into a heist action series involving cars. By doing so, they hoped to attract wider audiences that might otherwise be put off by a heavy emphasis on cars and car culture. Fast Five is considered the transitional film in the series, featuring only one car race and giving more attention to action set pieces such as gun fights, brawls, and the heist of $100 million. The production mounted a comprehensive marketing campaign, marketing the film through social media, virtual games, cinema chains, automobile manufacturers, and at NASCAR races. -
0U23 February 2020This is the best Fast and furious movie in my opinion. The franchise reinvented itself here and the series really benefited from it. This had a much better and believable plot and of course the Rock made the movie really good as well. 8.5/10
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Sure the original was something fresh, new, and somewhat original. But the sequels have been anything but. Yeah i know it's high octane fun, but you can say the same thing about Michael Bay films. Am i saying that these sequels are as bad as Michael Bay films? No, but each one offers nothing new, well, unless you count drifting, and that isn't saying a lot. Hopefull this new installment can bring something fresh to the table.
I never thought i would say this, but i actually enjoyed this movie. I went in with low expectations, and came out pretty damn satisfied. Sure the movie had a lot of the same moving parts, but what really made this one stand out is how it actually changed the pace of how they normally do things.
First, they didn't have a damn drag race every 10 minutes. In fact, they barely had any. Which really is a genius idea, because when the time did come to have an awesome driving sequence, you were begging for it. Finally, someone with brains stepped into this movie and said let's save all of our bullets and unleash them in the end.
So with a series that relies heavily on their driving sequences and less on their script, how do you keep your audience entertained? Well, the first step is to incorporate another major actor, enter The Rock. Next, you really need to buff up your script. Okay, here is where it gets both good and bad. It's good because the movie takes a ton of it's credit from the "Ocean 11" films. Yeah, it's stealing an idea, but it injecting more action into it, which is pretty cool. But the reason why i say it's also bad, is because it's still packed with bad cheesy one-liners, poor acting, and some really tarnished plot outlines. But does that take anything away from the fun.......not really.
Bottom Line, okay people, here is your first action movie worth seeing this year. No, i am not one of those people who hold these 'Fast and Furious' films on a high pedestal. Not since the first one have i given anything over a decent review. But i can say with confidence that this one is actually worth your hard earned dollar. Sure it's slightly cheesy, packed with impossible action, and sure it steals some plot outlines from other films, but i like i said earlier, it's still fun to watch. So with that being said, the question remains.....is this the best one in the series? I still say no, but this movie comes damn close. Closer that any of the other ones, thats for damn sure. On a time line, this should have followed up the original -
CMTiago26 August 2013Without a shadow of a doubt, The Fast And Furious Franchise reaches it's peak in this installment with breathtaking action and a sense of friendship and brotherhood shared by the lead characters. Vin Diesel and Paul Walker return and are joined by newcomer Dwayne Johnsson for the 5th Fast and Furious Movie, entitled ''Fast Five''. There's not much to say about this, the action movie of the year, except it's fantastic shots of Brazil, the heist plot that brings even more excitem«ent to the table and overall the continuation of the story of these characters we have come to love and support, as their bond streghtens over time.
In Conclusion, if you love the franchise then you can't miss it
9/10 -
Troy_Campbell21 April 2011"Home sweet home" utters Diesel's beefcake criminal Dom Toretto to Walker's baby-faced ex-cop Brian O'Conner as they sit in Toretto's souped up muscle car ready to race along the streets of Rio de Janeiro. There's more than a hint of irony in this; fans of the Fast franchise will know exactly what Dom means. The sequels spawned from the highly successful first film have been a mixed bag appealing to different tastes. Some have been mildly entertaining in their own way, but the one major issue they've all shared is a lack of recurring characters and follow-on narratives. 2009's Fast & Furious partially rectified that by having the main four from the original movie return, but it's this fifth entry that really starts to bring the whole series together.
There's supporting characters from every instalment featured here – Matt Schulze's Vince from number one; Tyrese's big-mouthed Roman and Ludicrous' Tej from 2 Fast 2 Furious; Sung Kang's charismatic Han from Tokyo Drift; and Gal Gadot's sexy Gisele from F&F – with a post-credits cameo to cap it off. Scribe Chris Morgan has obviously done his homework as, in addition to the 'who's who' line-up of co-stars, there are references to the previous movies (and characters that don't appear) and he introduces subplots that help build on earlier story lines. This integration of the Fast universe, along with the marvellously tongue-in-cheek mood, notches up a level of interest not before seen in the car-crazy franchise.
After taking a new course with Tokyo Drift, and failing to impress with Fast & Furious, filmmaker Justin Lin has well and truly ignited the series with exciting set pieces and lashings of well placed humour. He still struggles to effectively call the shots when exposition (or mere conversation) is required; however he clearly has a handle on shooting the various fast-paced action scenes. There is a spectacular heist of luxury cars aboard a train (with a marvellously ridiculous denouement); a Bourne-esque free-running chase along roof tops; and a bruising hand-to-hand melee between The Rock and big Vin.
Of the major stars, it's Fast newcomer Dwayne Johnson who shines the brightest. His epic bad-ass cop makes Toretto look like an absolute sissy, which is no easy feat. He also boasts many of the film's greatest lines and comes away looking the least corny – something Diesel and Walker are evidently use to by now. The chalk and cheese pairing of the two wannabe action stars brings with it a decent slab of shonky acting. Chrome-domed Diesel is especially silly and unconvincing when required to open his mouth, but he looks good behind the wheel of a car and adds plenty to the unapologetic macho atmosphere.
Thanks to Morgan's decent script, Lin's solid grasp on the action and Johnson's tough-as-nails turn, this latest addition to a franchise that appeared to be running on fumes has just stepped on the gas.
3.5 out of 5 (1 - Rubbish, 2 - Average, 3 - Good, 4 - Great, 5 - Brilliant) -
mus_ne_1723 April 2011I enjoyed the movie so much, that I came onto IMDb and registered myself just so that I can post a review.
The movie was packed with jaw dropping, eye popping action from beginning to end. The drama had a mix of sadness, comedy and seriousness which were all mixed in together so beautifully to give a consistency to keep the viewer starring at the screen and being involved in the movie rather than daydreaming about other things.
In my honest opinion I would say that it is the best Fast & Furious movie to date.
I want to go see it again!
(by the way, I realise that this isn't the best review in the world or might even be an awful review, the point is that I enjoyed the movie thoroughly and felt I should contribute to it's high average ratings). -
claudio_carvalho17 September 2011The former agent Brian O'Conner (Paul Walker) and his girlfriend Mia Toretto (Jordana Brewster) rescue her brother Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) during the transportation to the prison and they flee to Rio de Janeiro.
They rob a car from custody and find that the powerful drug lord Hernan Reyes (Joaquim de Almeida) has a US$ 100,000.00 in a safe located inside the police station and protected by corrupt policeman. Dominic invites his skilled crew to steal the dirty money and achieve their freedom, moving to a country without extradition to the USA. Meanwhile the tough FBI agent Luke Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) comes to Brazil with an elite force to arrest Dominic and Brian.
"Fast Five" is an entertaining action film, with cartoonish shootings and fights and an insane car race that destroys dozens of cars and locations. Vin Diesel, Paul Walker and Dwayne Johnson are synonym of great action scenes, and is nice to see the gorgeous Jordana Brewster that speaks a perfect Portuguese and Elsa Pataky.
For Brazilian and specially "cariocas" (natives from Rio de Janeiro), this film is also a comedy with the stereotyped Rio and a great quantity of mistakes. Most of the scenes are shot in Puerto Rico; most of the accent of actors speaking Portuguese are not from Rio but from São Paulo or from native in Spanish; Hernan Reyes is not a Brazilian name and Joaquim de Almeida is an actor from Portugal; there are ridiculous geographical mistakes, like for example, the references to the noble areas of Avenida Atlântica and Leblon. The sequences in the slums are also funny, since the modus operandi of armed drug dealers is totally different, using snipers from the top of the hills and barriers in the accesses to avoid the police and paramilitary forces. An American force would never have jurisdiction in Brazil. Last but not the least, there are many corrupt cops in Brazil, but never in such level.
I do not understand why the production has not used Brazilian actors and actresses in supporting roles to giver credibility to the footages with the external landscapes of Rio de Janeiro. My vote is six.
Title (Brazil): "Velozes & Furiosos 5 - Operação Rio" ("Fast & Furious 5 – Operation Rio") -
lalitdevraj2 February 2012Honestly, this is the third "Fast and the Furious" movie I have seen but by far was this the best one! With an amalgamation of genres, this movie would possibly appeal to all types of viewers except those who love ROM-COMs! I loved how everyone came together to do the job; the same people I loved in the movies which I saw together made my day as there was so much to relate to! Not much racing as the others, but what is there truly keeps you glued to your seat. Screenplay was interesting, locations eye-catching and casting, already stated! It's one of those movies which you like a lot while watching it and then later think about what happened within it at random times. Yes, you may not want to give it a second view immediately or even soon after, but you just may replay those highlighted scenes, for example, when Vin Diesel and "The Rock" face off. That fight was intense and boy, was it gripping!
Overall, an enjoyable movie but the 9-10 band cannot include this movie. Why? You'll agree with your own reasons after you watch it. Simply a great movie, but great to that extent, not really. -
Cowzilla1529 April 2011Now, this movie had its strengths... and its weaknesses... First off, great acting. All actors were superb. Good action scenes, nice action shots and cinematography. The script was a bit shabby.. But I need to vent about my main issue with this title... It doesn't have any realism in the movie at all. None.
First example: A car drives in front of a bus, they were going fairly fast but it should not have had THIS outcome.. The bus hits the back of car. The bus is then propelled 20-30 feet into the air, lands, and is ripped to shreds. No fatalities either, and somehow they snuck an inmate out from the scene of the crime without a soul knowing about it. The bus flying through the air from a minor collision like that is what really angered me.
Second example: An all-terrain vehicle speeds along next to a train. Not only does it stay with the train for a good 10 minutes in the exact same spot without any trouble adjusting to the trains speed, but it is clamped on with enough stability that a team of 2 can use plasma cutters to cut a wall large enough to smuggle a car out of. I liked the idea, but it wasn't put together properly. To make things worse, after a few cars are smuggled out, a final car, with about 2 feet of room to gain momentum with, had enough speed to make an enormous leap off of the train and land perfectly with smooth sailing the rest of the way. This is followed by two men in the car flying off of a cliff large enough to kill anybody landing in the water below. In the real world, limbs would have been lost. They land like it was nothing.
Third example (this takes the cake): An armored vehicle plows through the walls of a police station.. I'm okay with this. Two Chargers pull up, chain themselves to this 10 ton vault, and have enough traction and friction to pull the entire vault off of the wall and out of the building. In a real world situation, the cars would make no progress and spin out, or the chains would break... and they take off! Speeding through Rio with a 10 ton vault, wrecking down buildings, smashing cars, dodging people, and smashing everything else in sight. This really irritated me. It even went through a large concrete building, the chain being strong enough to tear the building apart. I have no clue how this is even plausible. The vault then flies around smashing everything in its path again, still being pulled by these two wimpy cars. Eventually, the police catch up. The drivers suddenly have the dexterity to move the vault and fling it to their will. They smash some more cop cars, cause more collateral damage, and then decide they are going to split up. One Charger takes the vault on its own, and another takes off in the opposite direction. This solo driver suddenly has even more dexterity, and flings the vault around some more, taking out cop cars left and right, killing people exactly how he "planned it". Like I said earlier, if you are pulling a vault the size of a building around in a solitary car, the tires would not have enough traction to continue, and the car wouldn't have enough horsepower to drag that monstrosity around.
It goes on and on, I wish I could actually watch this movie without those three examples. It would be great. I loved the rest of it. But, save all this junk for a sci-fi movie... I can stand small amounts of movies being non-realistic, there are exceptions.. But not taking realism into consideration at all is a bit of a downer. Apparently physics don't apply to anybody living in Rio De Janeiro. -
explicit-18 May 2011There's a limit to how many sequels you can make to an action movie that was not very smart to begin with and still end up with something watchable. They change the scenery a bit, one-up the carnage and the special effects, add a little seasoning and shake well.
The thing that made the Fast and the Furious really good was always the fast cars and the portrayal of the street racer subculture with some crime and action on the side. Unfortunately Fast Five fails to deliver the proved formula - the action is too prominent, and frankly feels ridiculous most of the time. The street racing and the tuner scene are moved to the side to make room for more gunfights and ridiculous action scenes. The plot is predictably weak and while the regular cast makes a good effort of keeping the whole thing afloat, their efforts are undermined by some of the new faces (anyone like wrestling?).
The whole thing feels like a meaningless series of action scenes glued together with a few romantic moments meant to tend the female demographic. There is no sense of flow throughout the movie and I never felt part of the action, it was not even remotely believable. I wish I could say that the movie was not really bad, just mediocre but that would be lying. Spare yourself some disappointment and go watch something else. -
bob the moo21 September 2011Very early in this film Paul Walker's character is hanging off the side of a speeding train in urgent need to get off before it hits the bridge. Instead of jumping to the ground and hoping he can roll his speed down, he jumps to a speeding car seconds before an explosion and then goes with that car as it flies off a cliff into a several hundred meter drop into a lake. At this point my girlfriend asked how any of that had been easier than just jumping onto the ground considering that hitting water from that height is similar to hitting concrete. I couldn't argue her logic but I did have to explain that her logic and attention to detail have no place in a film franchise that has hit its fifth instalment without ever suggestion that logic or plotting are anywhere near as important as a shot of a young woman's ass and a love of fast cars.
And that is the problem with Fast Five that you need to overcome, it will at no point do much with the plot unless it knows it can get from that bit of plotting to the next car, gun or ass scene with minimal effort. It is a summer movie though and the "Five" in the title does mean that you should know what you're coming to with it. So I did my best to overlook the plot which is messy and a lacking logic at pretty much every turn – I over look it because I'm happy to surrender logic if the film can give me thrills and action. Mostly the film does, or at least it gives spectacle. Whether it is the foot escape over favela roofs or the ridiculous destruction derby of the robbery itself, the film provides you with a lot to look at and as such it is entertaining as spectacle. Personally I though the whole film could have greatly benefited from being tighter outside of these scenes and needed an injection of actual danger and tension. Instead everything happens and our characters and their cars seem indestructible, which does rather detract from the action because the viewer doesn't really "care" or worry about what is going on – it is all about just the spectacle. Although, like I said, it does do this well.
Previous films in this series have had terrible effects and some awful CGI cars (that look CGI). I'm sure computer effects were in use here but mostly it doesn't show – specifically the car chases and scenes of destruction are satisfyingly real; again they may be effects but they are very good if they are because you do have the satisfying feel of stunt men working hard in the real world – something so many effects-driven blockbusters forget about now that computers can do so much. Matching the spectacle the cast mostly do what they are required to do by looking great. Paul Walker remains good-looking and has the sparkle in his eye that makes him fun to watch in these film. Alongside him Vin Diesel looks like he is half asleep in the most part and in this film his presence is massively damaged by having to be compared to The Rock. The Rock may not have much to do but he has great presence and a real brutal charm – arms the size of tree-trunks also help his "character" but, like I said, it makes Diesel look dull and out-of-shape by comparison (although the dull one is certainly true). Outside of them Brewster is OK despite having little to do, Tyrese brings his mouth but not the homoerotic comedy that he brought to the second film while both Pataky and Gadot have tremendous figures. Ludicrous, Kang and others in the gang appear to be in for fans of the franchise but it gives too many characters to care about – in terms of excitement and making the film tighter, it would have been better with a smaller group and tighter focus.
Overall Fast Five is a fun film in a franchise that has seen some poor ones already. It provides spectacle and noise which is all one can ask for – even if I would have loved it to be tighter, more dramatic. -
Hellmant30 April 2011'FAST FIVE': Three and a Half Stars (Out of Five)
I was never a big fan of the original 'THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS' and thought it was severely over-hyped. With each sequel though I think the franchise has gotten better (although I never saw the third chapter: 'TOKYO DRIFT'). This one (for the first time) brings together key cast members from all of the other films including Vin Diesel (who sat out the second film and only did a cameo in the third), Paul Walker (who was absent from the third film), Jordana Brewster (who missed the second and third films) as well as Tyrese Gibson, Ludicrous, Matt Schulze, Sung Kang, Cal Gadot and Tego Calderon (who all co-starred in one or two of the other films). It also adds Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson to the cast and fans finally get to see a long anticipated fight scene between he and Vin Diesel. The film is directed by Justin Lin (who also directed the last two films) and written by Chris Morgan (who wrote the last two films as well). It all adds up to a pretty entertaining action film that should definitely please most fans of the genre as well as fans of the franchise.
The film opens directly where the last one left off with former FBI agent turned outlaw Brian O'Conner (Walker) and girlfriend Mia (Brewster) breaking Mia's brother and Brian's buddy and partner in crime Dominic Toretto (Diesel) out of prison, by attacking the prison bus he's on. They then flee to Brazil and due to a botched car heist (where DEA agents are murdered) they're moved to the top of America's most wanted list. The baddest federal agent around, Lucas Hobbs (Johnson), is then put on assignment to track them down. O'Conner and Toretto then decide to pull one last big job on the crooked businessman, Hernan Reyes (Joaquim de Almeida), who framed them by stealing $100 million of his laundered money. They bring in a team of former associates to help them pull off the heist.
The movie is really predictable and the story and character development pretty routine but the action scenes are amazing. The film does drag a little in the middle, during the overlong heist setup part of the film but for the most part it's really fast paced and thrilling. The stunts are some of the best ever performed (probably) and the amount of sheer destruction in the film is astonishing. There are several scenes that seriously push the realm of logic and reality but it's all in good senseless fun. The Rock makes a cool addition to the series and the fight scene between him and Diesel doesn't disappoint. The film is most likely everything you think it's going to be and it delivers exactly what it promises. In that sense it's definitely a success and in my opinion at least a little better than all the others in the franchise (just adding the Rock makes it that much better).
Watch our review show 'MOVIE TALK' at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2_pFXcDSfo -
eric26200323 April 2012Like a fine wine, "The Fast and the Furious" franchise just gets better and in "Fast Five" my theory reigns true. The first part of the installment was high-flying and vastly exciting. Then the sequel came out which was not up to hype as its predecessor was, and then I was starting to give up hope once "Tokyo Drift" was released, yes it was that bad. I really had lowered expectations when "Fast and the Furious" was released and to my surprise it rejuvenated my confidence in the franchise, but "Fast Five" exceeds all my expectations as one of the best movies of the bunch which is rare in the realm of tiring sequels and lazy remakes that the movie industry surreptitiously likes to promote. I mean "Lethal Weapon" has had very good sequels in its heyday and "The Terminator" not to mention "Rocky" as well. I never expected this franchise would survive the test of time; it's like an underdog in its own right.
The story on "Fast Five" is well above average. It's like a continuation from where we left off from the previous installment. The story involves Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) and the gang conjures up a way to escape the seemingly endless array of escaping from the law and family issues. There's another subplot that centers on a drug kingpin and a missing computer chip. If you have a DVR you could fast forward those scenes because they're really not worth mentioning. Which is all good, but the main purpose to see this movie isn't due to the brilliant performances or a scintillating script. The hell with that! You're here for the exhibition of colorful, high-energized cars, the endless nonstop action and the attractive ladies. That's why you come to see this kind of movie.
As I mentioned before "Fast Five" won't win any Oscars or Golden Globes, but you know what? Who really give a damn? The performers like Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Dwayne Johnson, Jordana Brewster and Sang Kang are all out to have a great time. And the chemistry within the characters is quite mesmerizing.
Of course it's all about the action in movies like these, which will leave you breathless. Such memorable scenes include the one where gangs confiscate cars from a moving train. Who in their right minds would do something so stupid and dangerous? Another is an awesome foot chase in the condemned slums of Brazil (the scenery is postcard perfect). It's where The Rock and The Vin embark in a battle that was one of the rare moments that was not dependent on CGI. Let's not forget about the climax but I won't give any spoilers away. Also be sure to stay around for the end credits to know what the next installment will be about.
Overall "Fast Five" offers exhilarating action, backed up with scintillating visuals, with a compelling story to keep you on edge and great acting for those who love action flicks. -
Ten years after the inception of the fast car action film phenomenon, Fast Five takes the U.S. box office by storm beginning summer early this year. Director Justin Lin ("Anapolis") achieves an opening box office numbers north of 80 mil by amassing all of the franchise's most badass stars including Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Jordana Brewster, Tyrese Gibson, Ludicrous, Sung Kang, Matt Schulze along with adding the brute power of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. As expected, there is no plot or character development what so ever, immediately throwing the audience into the escape of Dominic "Dom" Toretto (Diesel) sentenced to twenty-five years in prison, facilitated by ex-cop Brian O'Connor (Walker) and Mia Toretto (Brewster). Following Dom's escape, Brian and Mia seek the help of an old friend, Vincent (Schulze), in Rio de Janeiro undertaking a job to steal three cars from a moving train as they wait for Dom's arrival. The heist goes amiss, however, they learn two things, first, they cannot trust anyone and second this is just the tip of the iceberg of the ticket to their freedom. Dom, Brian and Mia commence the biggest robbery the series has ever seen with a 100 million dollar target from the most corrupt and powerful man in Rio, Hernan Reyes (Joaquim de Almeida). Needless to say, they call Roman Pearce (Gibson), Tej (Ludacris), Han (Sung Kang) among other franchise favorites to evade the clutches of Reyes and U.S. federal agent Luke Hobbs (Johnson).
Not many sequels stand up to their first installments, however, after four semi-entertaining sexy action thrillers struggling to create a worthwhile plot, "Fast Five" does more than equivocating its predecessors. The film's over the top ridiculous scope leaves very little room for slow boring moments. Instead it is full of pointless action scenes including a five-minute foreseeable faceoff between Diesel and Johnson. The battle of the brawny is accompanied by the battle of the sexy between Jordana Brewster and newcomer Elsa Patakay (local Rio cop Elema Neves). And yes there are ego driven car races.
The same reasons that make "Fast Five" better than its predecessors make the film the true mess that it is. A completely flawed grandiose plot combined with ridiculously bad acting and Tyrese Gibson's cliché one-liners and Johnson's childish clever phrases such as "Now give me the veggies" make the script seem like something a 13 year old thought up while playing Need For Speed with his friends. However, by disregarding plot development and clever writing, "Fast Five" has broken through the bonds that have always been holding the series back.
In the end, nothing stands in the films way as the writers completely shirk their job letting the cast loose through a labyrinth of explosive fun. All that matters is that "Fast Five" is the epitome of a Hollywood moneymaker. It is entertainment. -
and_mikkelsen18 March 2023Yeah out of all the movies, this one still stands as my favorite! It basicly have everything you can ask for from a Fast and Furious movie!
This movie Feels like the finale movie in the series, as it brings together our favorite characters from the previous movies, in the current timeline! It is over the top, but not as much as the later entries! The plot is also easy to understand, and not overly complex!
This is an easy to enjoy action packed thrillride, with emotional, satisfying and intense moments! The last part of the movie is just bonkers and i LOVE it! The movie introduces "The Rock" as Luke Hobbs, whom is my favorite antagonistic force in this series!
Overall this is just a solid action-movie! -
I went into this movie expecting the usual; fast cars and hot babes held together with a more than flimsy action-packed story line and Justin Lin seemed to schizophrenically deliver (or did he?). The movie starts with a famously stolen and instantly aggravating "one last job" scene, obviously not something any movie goer can believe in this instance because let's face it who finishes a movie series on its fifth? This movie sees the return of all the usual (and previous) F&F characters and same tricks of the trade we have seen Brian and Dom perfect with all the usual so-called tense last minute escapes Hollywood has rinsed dry, yet still this movie does deserve its 7/10 rating.
How? Rio and the favelas are beautifully shot, the new characters are refreshing and VERY well casted, the vehicles are awesome, although lacking in their usual "bling" quality and the witty humour running through from previous F&F's is a little bonus for fans of the previous movies. Coupled with a sprinkling of nail biting moments and generous helpings of laugh-out-loud moments this testosterone injected movie is no doubt a fun, easy on the mind movie to go and watch.
Unfortunately, like all "fun and easy on the mind" movies, the simplicity of it all becomes very predictable and the same is true for this movie. The story line, although containing a couple of very interesting screws, is essentially like any other heist movie we've all seen before (you already know the conclusion and you always wonder where they magically get all that military level kit from). The fight scenes have obvious outcomes, the alliances of certain characters are openly questionable and the character of Matt Schulze (Vince) is more pointless than jet skiing in your 15 meter, back garden swimming pool.
The UNENDING swarms of mind-blowingly beautiful women and roaring hot cars are haplessly missing in the trial to create a more interesting storyline, which has only lead to needless additions into the story which add nothing to the overall plot. This movie is like a man in his late 20's desperate to become something more yet hold onto his youth and ending up messing up on both fronts. There's a token nitrous moment amidst the scores of needless carnage and overflowing testosterone levels from the tanking cast and developments in Brian and Mia's relationship add nothing to the story.
Overall, the movie is enjoyable but lacks the zing of maybe the first two. It falls short of a modern day epic man-movie like the "expendables" and clearly lacks the strong storyline and acting prowess of a brilliant modern day heist movie like "the bank job". Saying that, it would still be a shame to miss this movie. -
cadillac2029 April 2011Well, color me surprised. The Fast and The Furious has not been a series known for it's intelligence. Indeed, it's always been big, loud, and dumb. The original hit the right notes at the time of its release, appealing to many as a street racing film where few films has treaded before it. However, it's lackluster sequels failed to deliver. With the adrenaline rush of the original over and poor writing and acting all around, the sequels were nothing more than a series of poor imitations that could never recapture the thrills of the first film. So, it's with some surprise that Fast Five is arguably the best film in the series.
Fast Five ditches the street racing that made it's name in favor for being a heist film. In this particular case, we pick up right from where we left off, with Dom being busted out of his prison bus. They then flee to Rio where they take on a heist that goes haywire and eventually leads to the penultimate heist of the film. In the meantime, ruthless Agent Hobbs, who specializes in tracking and capturing people, arrives to catch out trio of outlaws. The film does a good job of not wasting any time and most of the serious moments are kept to a minimum in favor of heist scenes or action. And in the action department, the film delivers tenfold. Far bigger, louder, and more exciting than any F&F film before it, action junkies should find themselves thrilled by the impressive set pieces and testosterone-laced mix of car and foot action.
Now, don't get me wrong, this is still a F&F film. This means that the script is still pretty laughable and the acting leaves much to be desired. However, with that said, it's still a bit improved here. Vin Diesel still can't play up emotion very well, making his attempts at the more serious scenes here a bit laughable. Paul Walker doesn't fair much better and, unfortunately, even as a main character takes a back seat to Vin Diesel and Dwayne Johnson. As action stars though, these three do a great job. In particular, the eventual confrontation between Diesel and Johnson is fantastic, with it being a brutal, WWE-esque rumble. The climactic scene alone is worth the price of admission. Though laughable, it's still an exciting, eye-popping scene that will leave you a little stupefied.
Certainly, you have to suspend much of your disbelief with your film. If you can't do that, you'll just find this entire film laughable and of poor entertainment value. For those who can though, this is a very entertaining film. And for fans, you'll certainly enjoy the film, with a well rounded cast from throughout the entire series coming together to pull off the impossible. It's definitely surprising to see that the fifth film in the series is the best, but I suppose that it's merely the evolution of F&F. With enough money, talent, and by pulling out all the stops, the franchise has finally capitalized on the over-the-top aspects that they had always seemed to go for. Suffice to say, action fans with enough suspension of disbelief will enjoy this immensely. -
elby_monkey5 April 2011Fast Five - you'd think by the fifth instalment the Fast & Furious franchise would have run out of nos but this film really 'packs a punch'. Think of what you expect from this film, and then make it really amazing! Great chases - all kinds! -, great fist fights (Vin Diesel vs. The Rock..!!), great action sequences.... everything you would want from this film is IN IT and if you suspend all disbelief and go with it, its done brilliantly. Even the cheesy lines and plot twists become enjoyable.
Not sure I'd pay a full adult weekend cinema price to see it, but if you can get 241 or a student discount, definitely see it on the big screen! Or wait for the blu-ray. Either way, you won't regret it when you see the beads of sweat running off The Rock's huge, bald head. Weird. -
neil-47621 April 2011One normally expects the law of diminishing returns to set in with sequels. But Fast Five is fine.
Diesel, Walker & Co are in Rio looking for a big score, with Dwayne Johnson's crack team looking to bring them back to answer for various crimes (the fact that these guys have no jurisdiction in Rio is mentioned, but otherwise overlooked).
There are a couple of excellent set pieces bookending some entertaining character stuff and plot movement. And when I say "excellent", what I mean is not very probable, but immensely entertaining, with brilliant stunt work interlaced with visual effects so well that you can't tell which is which.
I thoroughly enjoyed this. -
iReviewFilms29 April 2011The latest in the Fast and Furious franchise has recently hit the screens and what with the others being a good way to spend a few hours I was hoping for a similar type of movie from this one with plenty of great cars and car chases to boot.
Set after Fast & Furious (No. 4) but before The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (No. 3), this time the action is played out in Rio, Brazil after Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) has escaped from police custody in the US with help from his old pal Brian (Paul Walker) and sister Mia (Jordana Brewster) and gone into hiding. With them needing money to disappear forever, Dom hatches a plan to steal all the money from Rio's most reputable underworld kingpin Reyes (Joaquim de Almeida).
At the same time they are being hunted down by the elite federal agent Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) and his team who are trying to capture and take him back to prison. Although it is quite possible to watch this movie without seeing the previous 4 there will be some parts that may slip you by as the writers have assumed that, if your coming to see this movie then there is a very strong possibility you have seen at least a couple of the prequels/sequel.
One thing that I was quite surprised about was the lack of actual cars in the storyline. Sure they were involved slightly more than a normal action movie but I was expecting a lot more. There were probably only 2/3 scenes involving racing or car stunts and when the whole movie is supposed to be based around cars I was expecting just that little bit more. If fact in one scene just when you are expecting a good old fashioned drag race, they cut away to reveal the car back in the garage and already won! The action does make up for this though and is fast flowing throughout as they jump from one explosion/fight scene to the next. The casting of Johnson as the bad-ass agent was a stroke of genius with him bringing his former WWE smack talk to the character. He really makes you want to hate him and I especially enjoyed the Johnson Vs. Diesel fight scene as the 2 heavyweights traded blows.
At over 2 hours this is by far the longest in the franchise and although in general the time will pass quickly, they could have easily chopped off a few minutes here and there to stop the risk of it dragging for some people. The acting and script is nothing special and you will have to sit through a fair bit of 'we're doing this for family' talk but that is not what people will come to watch this movie for.
With Neal H. Moritz announcing in March the development of a sixth and seventh movie for the series it is doubtful that this surprisingly long lasting franchise will go away quietly. Despite having lots of good action and successfully filling a void in my day, lets just hope that they return to the core basics for the next one rather than forgetting the main reason for these movies was supposed to be the cars.
For further reviews feel free to check out: http://www.fanaticalaboutfilms.com -
qormi14 February 2012Okay, you chase down a speeding train in a rickety tractor rig, bumping along on desert terrain. You pull up to the speeding train, matching its exact speed, as you deftly cut the entire side of the box car with a blow torch. You hop in and deftly park a Ford GT onto the tractor rig not once, but twice. Then you drive a Corvette Stingray off the speeding train; the car crashing 15 feet onto the bumpy desert terrain off a speeding train and it causes no more damage than a small pothole. You speed the Corvette down bumpy desert terrain and are headed straight for the steel girder of a bridge spanning a 500 ft. deep gorge as a guy jumps off a train onto the car at the last split second.The girder apparently moved out of the way. You jump from the car as it hurtles downward off the cliff towards the water; a much longer plunge than from the Golden Gate Bridge and you pop up from the water, unscathed, as if you had just dove into a pool. You're then strung up suspended by chains in a warehouse but simply snap out of the chains just before the bad guys torture you and escape....All this happens after a speeding prison bus collides with a black Accura sports car..and the car wins! The car is undamaged as the bus rolls a dozen times and lands upside down with none of the handcuffed prisoners having been killed...and did the Rock take acting lessons from OJ?...This film is unconscionable garbage and is not worth watching.