Recent Viewing: Fast and Furious 6

I was never really a fan of the Fast and Furious franchise until my job in college was working on cars. One of my friends was excited for the Tokyo Drift movie and I decided I’d check it out too. It was a solid film that kept me entertained, so I checked out the rest in the franchise and kept loose tabs on the other films as they were released. I watched Fast Five for the first time a few months ago, and it raised the bar of the films (in my opinion). So I decided I had to check out Fast and Furious 6 in theaters.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKi5XoeTN0k&w=560&h=315]

Synopsis- The film starts with a great opening credit montage of the previous 5 films, acting as a refresher or prologue to people that my not have seen the other films. Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) is tracking down a well known criminal Owen Shaw (Luke Evans) and gang who have made off with some military equipment. In order to help catch Shaw, Hobbs finds Torreto (Diesel) and tries to convince him to help find Shaw. As added motivation, Hobbs shows Torreto a picture of his girlfriend who was thought to be killed in a blown undercover assignment.

Torreto is on board, and he gathers the rest of the crew for the job. They have a location on Shaw and the first conflict between Shaw’s crew and Torreto and O’Connor’s (Paul Walker) crew. The drivers tear through the streets of London, with some in Shaw’s crew driving cars that look like armored Formula 1 cars. Shaw’s crew gets away, but the chase provides valuable insight to the kinds of technology and cars that Shaw’s group has access to. They gain access to the person that designed the cars, but more people from Shaw’s group turn up, including Letty (Rodriguez), Torreto’s girlfriend. A gun fight ensues between the two factions. Who comes out alive and will Torreto be able to get back to Letty? Will Torreto and crew be able to bring down Shaw’s crew?

Review- Fast and Furious 6 picks up where Fast 5 leaves off. All the characters reprise their roles and the movie feels more like an extension of the previous film. I had questioned how this film could have been better than Fast 5, but it delivered. Another question I had going into the film was how were they going to spin Letty still being alive, when she was supposedly killed in the fourth film. The revival of her character seemed a little forced and misleading, but somewhat believable.

The action sequences were on par with Fast 5, with only one sequence that was pretty unrealistic. It was so over the top that it literally took me out of the movie, but doesn’t ruin the film, just a little bump. Comedic timing in the franchise is starting to become magic, the reaction between characters and the jokes they make at other characters expense are well timed and are just like jokes that people crack at each other that are that tight-knit.

I was curious how they were going to close out the franchise and how the Tokyo Drift film was going to fit in. The end of the movie did a good job of sewing up the 6 films and had a nice ending that winks at the first film.

As a motion graphics artist I always look forward to the credit design of the films and also the potential to a lead in to a potential 7th film. I won’t spoil anything, but don’t leave the theater right away.

Music- The soundtrack to this franchise is easily one of my favorites. The mix of music that they get for these films is always something I look forward to.