By Ari Howorth
Contributing Writer
“Fast Five,” Justin Lin’s new addition to the “Fast and the Furious” franchise, is in no way a consistent continuation of the first four films. However, the film’s adrenaline-pumping action sequences and intensely rapid pace help it to climb over its predecessors in quality.
It was made clear that this film was to be a battle of the Titans, featuring two of Hollywood’s most muscular and massive stars: Vin Diesel (star of two of the other four films) and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. Johnson proved himself as not only a valuable foil to Diesel’s character but also stole the screen with the strongest lines of the film.
“Fast Five” contrasted with the Fast and the Furious movies, known to feature an inner city culture of street racing that is sought out by the police. This film was not a street-racing movie (though a few references to the first films were present) but rather, a heist movie. Throughout “Fast Five,” the characters are preparing for one large job, their “final job” against the “kingpin” of Rio di Janero, Brazil.
Diesel and Johnson are joined in the film by a lively crew of characters, including Han and Tej (played by Sung Kang and famous rapper Ludacris). Each character brings to “Fast Five” the energy from the movies they were originally featured. At the same time, they adapt to the new film’s plot which, in its simplicity, reigns superior.
“Fast Five” is high-speed, lighthearted, and an all-around engaging film. Each previously-featured character successfully returns to the screen and the stage is set for another sequel. “Fast Five” is rated PG-13 and is showing in theaters nationwide.
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