6:02 PM
john rey
Sad fact: Not a lot of movie franchises retain the essence and spunk beyond the third installment. (Remember Superman IV? Rocky IV? The Shake, Rattle, and Roll series?)
Nope? I thought so.
That's why I was gladly surprised when the fifth installment of The Fast and the Furious franchise was so good. It felt like the best joyride ever.
Not only does the film retain the heart-pumping chase actions and fight scenes, it also includes an awesome heist operation set in Rio (which eerily looks a lot like Manila).
Speedy story
"The Fast and the Furious 5: Rio Heist" continues where the previous storyline left off, but turns the entire series upside down.
The film starts with Brian O'Conner (Paul Walker) and Mia Toretto (Jordana Brewster) literally flipping a bus to help Dom Toretto (Vin Diesel) escape.
The thing is, Dom is bent on doing one more project: Stealing $100 million dollars from mob boss Reyes. He swears that after this, he'll "disappear forever." C'mon, with a build like that, can he really "disappear"?
Anyway, before I can even wrap my head on how much $100 million is (and how many cars I can buy with it,) Dom is already assembling his team.
Enter The Fast and Furious reunion special starring sweet-talker Roman Pearce (Tyrese), techie Tej (Ludacris), sexy Gisele (Gal Gadot), "chameleon" Han (Sung Kang), crew members 1 Santos (Don Omar) and crew member 2 Leo (Tego Calderon.)
Money's in the bag right? Well, not quite. Federal agent Luke Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) is tracking the team and he will do everything to catch Toretto's gang even if it means he has to play dirty.
So what started out as a well-thought plan becomes a deadly cat-and-mouse game.
Will Dom and his group succeed? Will Agent Hobbs stop them?
Who will survive this epic pedal-to-the-metal showdown?
Fierce performances
I usually do not expect great acting in franchise films for the reasons that actors tend to be on "auto mode." Maybe because most of them just replicate their performances from the previous films.
However, I was surprised by the intensity and sensitivity that Vin Diesel brought to this installment. Clearly, this is Dom Torreto seeking redemption from all the mistakes that he has done and making sure his sister and now brother-in-law Brian live a better life.
Not to be outdone, Jordana Brewster shines even if she spends most of the time off the driver's seat. She has one unforgettable scene where she tries to keep her family together while running away from the police.
Dwayne Johnson also did not disappoint as the federal agent on the heels of Toretto. Clearly, if there's one person that can go head-to-head against Vin Diesel, it would be him. He is in the best fight scene of the film when he goes mano-a-mano with Vin Diesel.
However, the biggest scene stealer of the film is Matt Schulze who plays Toretto's childhood friend Vince. His moments are brief, but he plays it with such mystique and desperation that makes them so compelling.
Props to production
The film has really good performances, nail-biting action sequences and awesome story. The script is wittier and I really see the character development.
Also, the streets of Rio fit well with the gritty world in which the characters live in.
Some people may gripe that there are less car chases, but that was definitely fixed by putting in a tension-filled heist operation.
Finally, (and I expect die-hard fans of The Fast and the Furious series to go up and arms and disagree with me) I believe The Fast and Furious 5 is by far the best installment to date.
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