The combination of Bourne/Casino Royale-like roof-jumping, some raw WWE wrestling action, a cast that is perfectly chosen, a hot chick riding a bike and a killer climax will get you the next movie that will be the inspiration for many Hollywood and more Bollywod movies that are yet to come. Oh and this movie isn’t just about cars. This one has a plot based around robbing a corrupt Brazilian businessman and escaping the authorities at the same time. The movie has shifted it’s emphasis from just cars and now, is a complete action movie.
The director, Justin Lin, has done with The Fast and the Furious franchise something that very few people can do with a fifth iteration. In simple words, he has kicked some super ass. This is the best instalment in the series and hell yeah, I liked it.
The cast of this movie deserves a huge mention because it’s their on-screen connect that keeps you on the hook. It’s like every part of the cast has a reason to be in the movie and this movie wouldn’t be possible without them. Think Ocean’s Eleven. The difference is that instead of George Clooney playing Danny Ocean, you have Vin Diesel playing Dominic Torreto. Paul Walker, who plays Brian O’Conner supports Vin Diesel as an equal. Dwayne Johnson aka The Rock plays an amazingly strong (WWE hangover?) Agent Hobb. A lot of characters from the older movies return to this one like the second lead in 2Fast2Furious, Roman Pearce played by Tyrese Gibson and Han, played by Sung Kang from Tokyo Drift. With other famous people like Ludacris and a lot of unknown folks too, this cast surely knows how to get their acting right!
The story is set in Rio de Janeiro and the cinematographer, Stephen F. Windon makes clever use of the camera and captures the city’s hill-side favelas well. He was also the cinematographer of Fast & The Furious: Tokyo Drift. The movie has three editors – Kelly Matsumoto, Fred Raskin and Christian Wagner. The editing was razor sharp and added a lot of impact to the narrative as it even kept a non-English speaking crowd behind me in the theatre hooked to the screen. The special effects are fantastic and don’t make you go, “Oh! That’s done on a computer man!”
The movie has no regard for physics or any other science. It’s like being able to accept that Peter Parker became Spiderman because of a mutated spider. You never tend to question the absurdity of the scenes because you tend to enjoy them and get equally involved.
Step out and watch this film.
p.s. Justin Lin (who has also directed a few episodes of Community) just made it to my list of favourite directors.
