Fast Five

*** stars

No movie called Fast Five deserves to be this entertaining. Coming off the stench that was 2009's Fast and Furious, I was shocked to find that this latest installment is actually a really fun action movie. It never takes itself too seriously, the plot actually has an end game to it, and there's a fresh sense of direction from Justin Lin, who holds nothing back and realizes that the more ridiculous it gets the better off it is.

Vin Diesel and Paul Walker probably owe everything to this franchise. It's the only real consistent commercial success they've experienced throughout their whole careers. For a while, they tried avoiding being typecast. Today, it seems they're embracing it. With huge paychecks. Fast Five just opened to $83 million, a monstrous figure. Now knowing that it is a very entertaining movie will up its chances of being one of the highest grossing movies of the year.

I was never a big fan of this series. There was always something non-sexy about fast cars continuously racing for no reason (except to show off the cars) and close-ups of female asses that indicate clear signs of a studio's desperation to lure young male viewers to their movie. That's what The Fast and the Furious franchise has been all about. However, what's clever about Fast Five is that it understands this and makes fun of itself before we have the chance to.

The movie roars off to a fast start. After receiving a life sentence in prison without the possibility of parole, Dom Toretto (Diesel) is a free man after his best friend/former cop Brian O'Conner (Walker) and his sister/Brian's girlfriend Mia (Jordana Brewster) help him escape. The escape plan? Crash a car into the prisoner bus that is carrying him and hope that he survives it so they can snatch him up before anyone else can. After that, the three go on the run and find themselves in Rio de Janeiro hoping to find a way to freedom. That means ONE LAST JOB TO END THEM ALL.

This turns Fast Five into a formulaic piece of pop culture entertainment with an actual purpose. They want to take down a corrupt businessman named Hernan Reyes (Joaquim de Almeida), one in which they steal a very valuable car from, by using a computer chip from the stolen car that contains high valued information about illicit business activities including $100 million in laundered money. We don't want to see Dom and Brian stealing from just anyone. We root for our heroes because they are stealing from the corrupt even though in the end they are villains themselves.

Especially through the eyes of DSS agent Luke Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson), whose philosophy on the law is catching any suspect whose file lands on his desk. This translates into him basically wanting Dom's head on a plate. However, as Hobbs learns more about what is actually going on, he starts to question who the good and bad guys actually are.

Oh, and by the way, as this is all going on, we get plenty of ludicrous car chases. The climax chase scene in-particular is an astonishing action trip into the ridiculous.

With these type of films, I like to be proven wrong. I am glad that the creative team behind Fast Five was able to prove to me that this franchise has yet burn out. I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels this way. Let's see if they can do the same with F6.