Fast cars, car chases, smooth criminals. It sounds like the material for a Michael Jackson song and video. Only this is now the sixth blockbuster car flick in the franchise of F+F and this one is mostly set in Europe— Moscow, Spain, and primarily in London. Like the Bond franchises this series of movies thrives on visually stunning or exotic locations. Not to mention visually stunning and exotic humans of various species. And lest this movie does not finally whet your appetite for such films, the epilogue to this film makes clear there will be a seventh in the series. Crime and its pursuits never sleep it seems.
Let me say first of all that I did not enjoy this installment of the franchise as much as F+F 5. Yes it has some spectacular stunts involving of course cars, and this time tanks and cargo planes, but some of the stunts are so outlandish, so over the top, that it stretches credulity past the breaking point and stupidity as well. And there are too many holes in the plot this time as well— like when the ultimate bad guy named Owen is within the grasp of ‘the team’ but is allowed to walk way, about half way through the film.
Still the film has its fun moments as a summer popcorn delight, and the message ‘family is what matters most, one must sacrifice all for family’ no doubt plays well in the heartland. One must also ignore the hamfisted dialogue, and the cartoon character behavior of Dwayne Rock Johnson. Compared to him, Vin Diesel is a primo actor.
The formula for the film is of course the same as usual, including the use of rap music and heavy strings in the emotional parts of the film. Here’s the summary on RT—-
“Vin Diesel, Paul Walker and Dwayne Johnson lead the returning cast of all-stars as the global blockbuster franchise built on speed races to its next continent in Fast & Furious 6. Reuniting for their most high-stakes adventure yet, fan favorites Jordana Brewster, Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, Sung Kang, Gal Gadot, Chris “Ludacris” Bridges and Elsa Pataky are joined by badass series newcomers Luke Evans and Gina Carano. Since Dom (Diesel) and Brian’s (Walker) Rio heist toppled a kingpin’s empire and left their crew with $100 million, our heroes have scattered across the globe. But their inability to return home and living forever on the lam have left their lives incomplete. Meanwhile, Hobbs (Johnson) has been tracking an organization of lethally skilled mercenary drivers across 12 countries, whose mastermind (Evans) is aided by a ruthless second-in-command revealed to be the love Dom thought was dead, Letty (Rodriguez). The only way to stop the criminal outfit is to outmatch them at street level, so Hobbs asks Dom to assemble his elite team in London. Payment? Full pardons for all of them so they can return home and make their families whole again. Building on the worldwide blockbuster success of Fast Five and taking the action, stunts and narrative to even greater heights, Fast & Furious 6 sees director Justin Lin back behind the camera for the fourth time. He is supported by longtime producers Neal H. Moritz and Vin Diesel, who welcome producer Clayton Townsend back to the series. (c) Fox
If you don’t mind suspending your disbelief for 2 hours and ten minutes, this film is not a bad little divertimento on a summer’s day.
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