Review: The best Fast and Furious yet

A very curious thing is happening with the Fast and Furious films. Most movie series don’t see a revival in the late entries, but “Fast Five” was much better than the previous lackluster installments and injected new life that made people excited to see these films again.

So, the question is, does “Fast & Furious 6” keep the momentum going? Heck ya, it does.

In this entry, we follow Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) and his gang of ex-criminals as they are roped into helping police Detective Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) capture a man named Shaw (Luke Evans) who is staging massive heists that no one seems to be able to stop. The crew decides to help Hobbs when they see that Dom’s girlfriend, Letty (Michelle Rodriguez), who supposedly died in the fourth F-and-F entry, is working with him.

The film starts rather awkwardly with a very corny intro that shows snippets of all of the previous films, followed by the main characters walking side-by-side into the distance. It’s a very weird way to begin and looked like the opening to some action TV show. It’s not a big deal, but is kind of off-putting. Anyway, on to the story.

There is an even more comedic air to this film than the last one, with characters cracking wise all the time. While some jokes fall flat, many deliver some good chuckles and give the film a more lighthearted tone that better suits the over-the-top characters and action.

The pacing has also improved. In the most recent film, there was far too much downtime between action scenes. A little is fine, but the characters and dialogue were not strong enough to carry that dead time between big moments. This has been remedied, with more punctuations of smaller action scenes to support the bigger set-piece moments.

And how is the action? It’s ludicrous, high-octane, adrenaline pumping, speedometer breaking, awesome and very satisfying. There are the Fast and Furious staples of people driving their cars really fast, with cuts of them shifting gears and turning their wheels in a very intense manner, but there is so much more. I don’t want to go too in-depth on what kind of massive set-pieces you’ll see, because there are cool surprises that made me think, “Holy crap, that’s awesome.” Trust me, some of the actions scenes are incredible and were followed by a chorus of “Oohs” and “Ahhs” from the audience.

The hand-to-hand fight scenes are also much better in this installment as they are solidly choreographed and less choppy than in the past. They pack a very brutal and viscerally satisfying feel.

Something the series has always lacked is a palpable or threatening villain, but Shaw marks a big improvement. While not highly memorable, he gets the job done, as Evans gives a solid performance.

Johnson has also gotten much more comfortable in the skin of the titular Hobbs, and is the most enjoyable character to watch.

The rest of the cast is just okay. Performances are no better or worse than before, and the same goes for the characters themselves. While the plot does try to solve a lot of the questions from the previous films and offers a few twists, it is still not that great. It’s never bad and can sometimes be enjoyable, but is still a little corny and predictable. If you dug the story and characters in past installments, then hooray for you, but if you haven’t, there is not much to keep you engaged in the lives of the world’s most gorgeous criminals.

Speaking of acting, my main complaint in the film is Vin Diesel. Words can barely escape his mouth now without sounding all garbled and monotone. He is kind of starting to get that Sylvester Stallone look going, with the puffy emotionless face and rather nasty looking biceps. Diesel has become an eyesore amidst the other beautiful cars and people in the film, which wouldn’t be as much of a problem if he didn’t have so much screen time. I am not trying to be vain here, but you look awful, Vinny.

Any faults I mentioned did not stop me from having a great time: “Fast & Furious 6” is well-paced, funny, slick, action packed and is very entertaining.

If you’re a fan of this series, rev up your engines because it may be the best Fast and Furious installment so far. And for those who are not too invested in the storyline, but love an entertaining action film, jump in the passenger’s seat for one wild ride.