Rated PG-13 - Language, violence, car crashes galore!
Starring: Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Dwayne Johnson
Directed by Justin Lin
The Story:
Owen Shaw (Luke Evans) is an evil man. His band of car terrorists are robbing military convoys to obtain parts that could destroy a country. Agent Hobbs (Johnson) realizes he needs to fight fire with fire, so he recruits Dom (Diesel) to reassemble the crew to help him take down Shaw's gang. The kicker? It appears that Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) is alive and working with Shaw. With their crew reassembled for one more run, Brian (Walker) asks for one thing: full pardons for everyone. Hobbs relents, and the game is on!
Buckle up!
One of my Top 10 Films of 2013 (Best Films of 2013) holds up as well, possibly even better on a repeated viewing at home.
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| If You Can't Beat Them... Join Them in the Sequel! |
The bar that was elevated with the 5th film is possibly surpassed ever so slightly with this 6th installment of the Fast and Furious franchise.
The heist elements are still there, though to a lesser extent as now the team is working on the side of The Man, though they are still willing to bend as many laws and rules as possible to get the job done.
Lin returns to helm his final installment of the series, and he goes out with a bang. A lot of bangs.
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| I Believe I Can Fly... |
He amps up the car chase from 5 with a tank chase in this movie. It's amazingly destructive and just an adrenaline rush to watch.
All of the players are given ample opportunity to shine, and that's saying something for a cast this size.
Aside from the obvious chemistry that Diesel and Walker have accumulated over the life of the franchise, it's always hilarious whenever Roman (Tyrese Gibson) and Tej (Ludacris) share some screen time.
The only flaw from the film, aside from the Rock's disappearing and reappearing goatee... ;) is the massive, 800 mile runway at the end of the film.
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| Just Sayin'... |
Suspend your disbelief (like you haven't already with this franchise) and it won't bother you too much.
Finally, for those that like to turn off a movie as soon as it is over, sit through the credits for about a minute.
There is a scene for the setup of Fast 7.
It also shows you that Tokyo Drift is really Fast & Furious 6.5, not 3.
Also, kudos to Universal for however they did it, whether it was scrapping the initial release and redoing all of the discs or what they did, but they included a beautiful tribute to Paul Walker that is really a nice recap of the franchise, focused on Walker's involvement.
It's still hard to believe he's gone, or how emotional that made me, and I would assume other Fast & Furious fans.
As I mentioned in my In Memoriam post about Walker, fans feel strongly when celebrities pass because next to family, friends or co-workers, these actors, musicians, authors, etc. bring us together as a collective audience. Any friends of mine who enjoyed this franchise will mourn what could have been with 7 or beyond.
Heck, I've let the entire family gather around and watch this franchise at home with Dad, so we've lost someone that's been in a lot of movies the family has enjoyed for the last 13 years.
So thank you Paul Walker for the fun body of work that you've left for us to enjoy.
You will be missed.
And thank you Universal for the Fast and Furious franchise. What started as a movie focused on street racing has blossomed into a wonderful franchise that has simply gotten better every time a new one comes out.
That's impressive.
Checked last year's review (Fast 6 Theater Review) and the film gets a slight bump between theater and DVD release.
Final Grade: A
Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: Without a doubt, in fact it was under the tree for Christmas, so I'm quite the happy guy! ;)
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