Tuesday 28 May 2013

Fast and Furious 6 - Review

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Last night I experienced my first dose of the disorganised mayhem that is the Fast and the Furious franchise. 

As a fan of cinema I'm not entirely sure how the previous five movies slipped me by, and having left the cinema 130 minutes later I could at least understand how this franchise has reached six movies going on seven if the final scene is anything to go by.

This film had both everything and nothing. All that you'd expect from a fast paced action movie without ever really pushing the boundaries laid down by other recent action epics (Skyfall, Looper and Star Trek come to mind).

There are a number of impressive set pieces, the Soviet cargo aircraft climax was particularly gripping and profoundly produced the top moment of the movie as Dwayne Johnson laid out his four hundred and fifty pound mass muscle counterpart with a spectacular flying right fist. 

The general humour of the movie felt rather conventional. Tyrese Gibson employed as the comic relief throughout, could only ever seem to muster the obvious response 'I've got a tank on my ass!' when the situation perhaps called for a multi-coloured purport instead of his constant over-optimism. A couple of wise cracks about 'big ass foreheads' aside and an amusing diffident moment in the London underground as Gibson and Sung-Kang get categorically lambasted by lead villain Shaw's martial arts specialist, the comedy side of this movie was perhaps the least endearing side to a movie that did quite impressively provoke a number of emotions. 

Vin Diesel provides a solid performance whilst Luke Evans excelled in the role of top agent turned bad, who's plan to create a powerful weapon becomes unstuck at the final hurdle despite piecing together the rest flawlessly before Dwayne Johnson turns to his own group of International fugitives.

But this movie never really provides anything original. Every turn the movie takes is far too predictable and every set piece finishes with a flurry of explosions which all the characters inexplicably walk away from without so much as a limp. 

Yet despite that this movie provides the precise dose of fantasy that is needed to take away the onlooker from their busy lives. It's a tribute to the franchise that they have reinvested so much of the profits from Fast 5 straight into 6, the visual effects and cinematography are absorbing. The movie moves through a series of spectacular locations, Vin Diesels chocolatey voice resonates sonorously throughout the cinema, Dwayne Johnson's veiny muscles defy the laws of physics and not many people can lay claim to being bored by a Formula 1 style car fitted with a ramp on the front to toss oncoming vehicles over its head. 

This is a movie that has all the subtlety of Dwayne Johnson's huge pectoral muscles, but achieves exactly what it set out to do; take the audience away from their far less thrilling lives for a couple of hours.  

5/10 

1 = A Good Day to Die Hard/Anything by Tyler Perry.... 
10 = Shawshank Redemption 


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