The plot of Fast Five is a fantasy and does not resemble real life. It is a film about crass materialism, masculine sentimentality and extreme violence and these aspects have been exaggerated to the point of caricature. Relentless car chases, great setting and action sequences are the major attractions of the movie. In a way, Chris Morgan's goofy script and ridiculous action are disappointing aspects.
But these two aspects do not deter the viewers from enjoying the movie because it has no pretensions other than to be a perfect car-chase film. It is all about two guys who steal expensive cars for a living and are forced to do this in Brazil because of America's draconian anti-stealing policies.
Notorious street racer Dom (Vin Diesel), Brian (Paul Walker) and Mia (Jordana Brewster) are wanted by the FBI for all the mayhem they perpetrated in the previous installments. They flee the US for Rio de Janeiro, where they decide to steal one last car to line their bank accounts. The easy money score goes badly and along with the FBI, a Brazilian kingpin (Joaquim de Almeida) also starts chasing the antiheroes. But Dom, Brian and Mia assemble a crack team of old colleagues to beat the kingpin at his own game by stealing all his money.
The characters in this franchise are larger than life. Justin Lin has retained most of the lead heroes of previous film and this helps him to go right into the meat of the story instead getting in to the introduction of each character first. He is also successful in tapping out the right kind of performance from each actor.
The major highlight of the movie is its action scenes and they are marvelously energetic and well-choreographed. There are two solid chase scenes in it. They are stealing cars off a moving train in a sequence and a chase scene on foot in which Dom, Brian and Mia have to elude both Reyes’ criminal gang and Hobbs’ law enforcement team. Stephen F Windon's camera work is superb and the CGI effects shown in the film are extremely clever.
In a nutshell, Fast Five may not have an interesting script and it may run like an atomic clock, rumbling past calcified performances and logic free stunts, but it keeps the viewers' interest in the film awake till its end. It is a must watch movie.
