Fast & Furious 6

Due to the trajectory of the franchise and its concept of a team of criminals as a family, placing the high-octane action in a melodramatic context was probably inevitable. Melodramatic conventions are the reason why the film ends on the second attempt, why it has problems with rhythm and why the characters conform to psychological formulas at the level of three-year-olds. The film’s family theme prevents it from getting out of first gear, as every big action scene is followed by blather about important values, which is only a substitute for a more sophisticated plot. The only one who manages to reflect the obvious melodrama is the main villain, who, of all the film’s characters, is the most capable of rational thought. In the context of a film driven by illogic and sentiment, he represents an anomaly that must be eliminated. ___ The film’s obvious objective and the approximate way of achieving it are introduced shortly after the nostalgic opening credits (which logically and primarily accentuate the “team” level of the previous films), and only after it is achieved does the dully straightforward narrative formula undergo a slight modification: Toretto’s crew comes up with a way to get Shaw. But Shaw is smarter and avoids capture; as he does so, several expensive cars explode and a few anonymous civilians die. So Toretto’s crew comes up with another plan, during the execution of which more expensive cars explode and more anonymous civilians die. Instead of the gradual development of motifs and well-thought-out provision of information, the cards are rashly laid out on the table and the crew rushes pell-mell toward their objective (not even the two small “female” story surprises, one cheap, the other stupid, manage to in any way alter the course of events). The film is even more narratively “disintegrated” than Fast Five, but it doesn’t allow us to watch it undisturbed in a relaxing “standby” mode –  enjoyment of the attractions is disrupted by the frequent dialogue, which is always serious about everything. A crucial problem of the film consists in the action scenes themselves, as they are fragmented by numerous unnecessary cuts and peppered with obvious digital tricks (the only car chase in Jack Reacher is directed far more clearly than any given chase in this film). __ Whereas the women in the film are dangerous, treacherous, defenceless, recovering from amnesia or just there to look good, the men were assigned the roles of invaluable protectors, capable lovers and excellent drivers. Fast & Furious 6 is just one big guyish pose, a film that too obviously displays its confidence in itself and the values that it promotes: if you have enough money, physical strength or weapons (or, ideally, a combination thereof), you can afford to go up against practically anyone. But you mustn’t put your family in danger. The relativisation of the villain and protagonist roles by means of self-reflexively pointing out the similarities between the teams facing each other (and whose members will fight each other more or less according to how Roman pairs them off) is ultimately just another false gesture with which Lin tries to conceal the fact that this time he bet more on big muscles, empty slogans and bombastic rhetoric than this 130-minute genre flick can bear. I don’t deny that it’s still a pleasure, but it’s much more of the guilty variety after Fast Five, whose testosterone-fuelled bombast was still generally acceptable. 70% (05/21/2013) (less) (more)