Review: Fast & Furious 6

The central trio of Vin Diesel, his sister Jordana Brewster, and their respective best friend and husband Paul Walker, are living in the Canary Islands, well away from any possible extradition for past sins. Walker and Brewster have just started a family, but you sense a bit of a restless spirit in former cop and former crim Walker. Then one day out of the blue, Diesel is visited by musclebound FBI man Dwayne Johnson, who has an unusual request: He needs Diesel and his top-notch crew of car thieves to help him nab a rogue Special Forces guy (Luke Evans) up to no-good criminal mastermind stuff with a similar vehicular bent. The lure on the hook for Diesel? Diesel’s former lover Michelle Rodriguez is alive and apparently under Evans’ wing. The rest of the crew (Walker, Tyrese Gibson, Ludacris, Sung Kang, Gal Gadot) are happy to do the gig, as they see it as bringing one of their own home, with Johnson and his new butt-kicking female partner Gina Carano accompanying them. But the rescue mission and mission to stop Evans, will be easier said than done, as Rodriguez seems awfully reluctant to come back into the fold. In fact, it seems like she has no idea who Diesel and co are! Elsa Pataky returns as Johnson’s former professional partner turned Diesel’s current romantic partner, whilst Shea Whigham and John Ortiz are perfectly cast as an a-hole cop and imprisoned criminal (the one supposedly responsible for Rodriguez’s death in a previous film), respectively.

 

I’m not a fan of this boofhead series, and the first two films are particularly appalling, but this 2013 film from director Justin Lin (“Better Luck Tomorrow”, “Fast & Furious”, “Fast 5”) and screenwriter Chris Morgan (“Cellular”, “Wanted”, “Fast 5”) is the mild best in the series thus far. Revheads and series fans will rate it even higher than me, but this group of characters don’t do a whole helluva lot for me, I have to say. I mean, even the undeniably charismatic Dwayne Johnson couldn’t drag “Fast 5” over the line, and doesn’t drag this one much further. He’s undoubtedly one of the best things here, but not being a devotee of the series (I still haven’t seen “Tokyo Drift”), I don’t have the same connection with these guys and gals as others will, and so there’s an obvious limit to how appealing it all is for me (Gal Gadot and Sung Kang are insufferably dull), especially since I don’t much give a crap about cars, either. Rock’s unbeatable physical presence (it’s a shame he wasn’t active in films in the late 80s/early 90s when action movies were prevalent and superior) and Tyrese Gibson’s intentionally irritable, abrasive personality probably registered most with me. But even I can appreciate that this one’s a slight step up from “Fast 5”, which wasn’t terrible itself.

 

After a completely stupid opener involving a high speed chase that is actually just two dudes rushing to Jordana Brewster’s impending baby-birthin’, the film definitely kicks into gear. The opening 20-30 minutes is truly action-packed. Sure, the camerawork is too busy and needlessly shaky (car travel isn’t that turbulent, dumb arses), and it’s all completely fucking absurd, but at least while the film is in action mode, it’s not remotely boring. I just wish I had some connection to the characters. Meanwhile, watching this in mid-2014 after Walker’s tragic death, there’s definitely a pall hanging over the whole thing. The scenes with him playing family man are very distressing. MMA fighter Gina Carano has an excellent fight scene relatively early with “Girlfight” actress Michelle Rodriguez. Carano is a bit stiff, but she might just have a future in action movies, so long as they are much heavier on the action and less reliant on facial expressions, of which Carano appears to have precious few at this stage. She’s still better than Gal Gadot, however, who just can’t act at all. Rodriguez, for her part, is actually quite good here (under some decidedly very silly amnesiac circumstances), certainly more impressive than Walker, and especially Diesel, who seems disinterested this time out. There’s good small turns by the always slimy Shea Whigham, and especially an intimidating John Ortiz. Unfortunately, Luke Evans doesn’t bring enough menace, evil charm, or presence to the lead villain role. But the action helps to make up at least some of the difference.

 

Are the stunts ridiculously unbelievable? Yep, one in particular really ought to have given Diesel a broken back. But look back at the first two films (I still haven’t quite forgiven John Singleton for the pathetic “2 Fast 2 Furious”) and tell me this isn’t significantly more fun. Yes it’s a completely ridiculous film, yes there’s some rather unsatisfactory performances, but I’m shocked at how watchable this is. Faint praise, sure, but it’s true. Absolutely brilliant tease for the next film, though, featuring a probable death and a star addition to the cast (that really ought to have happened well before now, when you think about it) tying in the previously seemingly stand-alone “Tokyo Drift” more directly to the franchise as well.

 

Rating: C+