Fast Five

Cruelty, gore, and thrills just the way we like it! Definitely the best installment and cast. I absolutely squealed with joy several times at how amazing it was. But what got me most of all was the atmosphere and music during the opening of the safe. The last time I was this fired up was with Armageddon. (05/25/2011)

This is the most honest bit of action in the last couple of seasons. After the demolitions of the digital Englishmen, the real stunt cars began to be destroyed at such a pace that Hollywood insurance people must have jumped out of their skin when they finally saw it. Lin manned up like few before him and fueled the tried-and-true blend of all the previous films, topping it off with the necessary octane by casting The Rock. Luke Hobbs, an overgrown, muscular beast, is brought in by an army transport special, and all hell breaks loose in a way that we would have looked for in vain in films that were originally about tuning, lots of nitro, and asses in tight shorts. Catchphrases can be heard all the time, there are some great action inserts, and then there is the fight we’ve wanted since Sylvester Stallone was rolled up by Steve Austin. The Diesel vs. Johnson fight is a physical bulldozer that breaks tables, knocks down walls, and still manages to exude that manly anger that such duels often lack. It all culminates in an action-packed ride through Rio de Janeiro that will have you running around like you did a year and a half ago in "Modern Warfare 2." An overflowing genre box. A regular aspirant for the Top 5 blockbusters of the year and a compliment to Lin. The Terminator idea suddenly looks very promising. (05/14/2011)

It seems that Justin Lin is getting the hang of his craft. After a tragic third installment and a slightly better fourth (mainly thanks to the cast), we now have a decent fifth part that works quite well on its own. Fortunately, there is a hefty dose of action, which was mostly lacking in the previous films, and instead of submachine guns and shotguns, we are treated to supposedly souped-up wrecking cars and spinning backgrounds. Values are flipped and Lin finally realised that times are changing and audiences have different demands. The setting of Rio is very attractive, the director plays with filters and music and turns an average project into a action-packed film that is narratively very simple, but ticks away pleasantly. Thanks to the stable cast and the masterful move in the form of The Rock, the film is very enjoyable to watch. The final over the top action set-piece didn't impress me that much, while the enraged fight between Diesel and Johnson was mind-blowing. (05/22/2011)

I sincerely doubt that the screenplay contains other words than onomatopoeias, but this just makes it more powerful the way all the “boom, crack, screech, ratatatat, splosh etc." could be reformed into such intense and easy to follow action in the movie which is a lot (really a lot!) more similar to classic heist movies with cars (the original The Italian Job) and big budget, no holds barred action movies like Bad Guys II than to earlier parts that, if you were being kind, were barely average, tuned up CGI trash for teens. And the action is unusually varied, from testosterone-charged hand to hand combat, through various mass shootouts in the favelas, to demolition derby involving half of all cars in Rio. (05/05/2011)

The series is transforming from a tuning exhibition for teenagers to full-blooded action blockbusters, where the roar of engines is drowned out by fusillades from machine guns and shotguns. Fast Five offers a well-coordinated team of partners in crime, the wild jungle of Rio de Janeiro and a surprisingly elaborate and ambitious script that overshadowed Bay’s Bad Boys II (which is thematically similar in many ways and met with mixed reviews). The movie’s creators hit the bull’s-eye by casting The Rock, who boosted the film to the testosterone maximum. In a single 130-minute film, there are no fewer than three bands of tough guys equipped with great cars and big guns fighting one another. What more can we wish for in this genre? (05/05/2011)