Fast Five (12A) ***

Apr 24 2011 by Roz Laws, Sunday Mercury

FAST FIVE (12A)

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CAST: Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Jordana Brewster, Dwayne Johnson

PLOT: The fifth film in the speedy cars, street racing Fast and Furious series picks up right where the last one left off, with Dominic (Diesel) sentenced to 25 years in jail. His pal, former cop Brian (Walker) and sister Mia (Brewster), who’s also Brian’s girlfriend, free him from the prison bus by crashing it – the first of many, many smashes in a highly destructive film.

The trio flee to Rio de Janeiro, where a daring raid on a train brings them to the attention of tough federal agent Hobbs (Johnson, looking ridiculously muscle-bound and sporting a silly beard so we can tell him apart from fellow baldie Diesel in the action scenes).

The gang call on old friends like Tyrese Gibson, Tego Calderon, Sun Kang and Ludacris to help them rob Rio’s drug lord of $100 million, even though the money is in a heavily-guarded vault in a police station. It all builds to an audacious heist and chase.

GOOD POINTS: The scenery is picturesque and the elaborate, expensive stunts are spectacular. That’s what we watch these action films for, not for a clever plot or sparkling banter. And it delivers enough for a sixth film to be in the pipeline, despite them promising to “disappear forever” after one ‘final’ job.

BAD POINTS: The plot and dialogue are thin. An unexpected alliance is hard to swallow, while attempts to add emotional depth by talking about the importance of family (Mia is pregnant) are misguided. There are rather too many unnecessary subtitles – there’s no authenticity to be gained from some characters not speaking English.

SHOULD I SEE IT? Yes, if you like cars and brainless popcorn flicks. You can almost smell the burning rubber.