Fast & Furious 5: Rio Heist ****
Petrol heads unite; it’s the return of throbbing muscle cars tearing up the streets and desert highways with a bunch of thrill-seeking car enthusiasts at the wheel. Well, kind of, but the noise and adrenaline is certainly still there in full dramatic force.
Once you’ve adjusted your ears, seasoned Fast franchise director Justin Lin throws in a dusty desert chase at the very beginning for good measure for fans who have been waiting a couple of years for the next instalment. Apart from trying to work out (spoiler) how a car can flip a coach and still stay intact, lap up this incredulous first stunt because the latest film has turned all Jason Bourne/Ocean’s Eleven on us, and is more about a major heist and escaping authority in Rio, plus the gang’s relationship values, than the motorised chases/races the series is best loved for.
That’s not to say that the filmmakers have never placed a lot of importance on family in past films, but this one drums it home (schmaltzy ending aside), often in wholly sincere (and quite amusing) moments of self reflection, with the aid of much-loved characters, Dom (Vin Diesel), Brian (Paul Walker), Mia (Jordana Brewster) and extended family.
Indeed, returning to the franchise’s successful relationship core Fast 5 sees Dom busted from jail by Brian and Mia who go on the run in the favelas (shanty towns) of Rio, before reuniting with some old personalities – one of the film’s major joys – for one last $100 million dollar heist. This is not just another ‘get rich quick plan’, though, but a skewed serving of justice to take down the local corrupt kingpin masquerading as a legitimate businessman. However, adding to the ‘misfit family’s’ woes is Rottweiler US federal agent Luke Hobbs (Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson) who carries out his job to the letter and is determined to hunt down and bring Dom to justice.
A serious suspension of disbelief is needed with a lot of the action scenes, but that’s not to say you don’t get the same entertainment value out of seeing our heroes narrowly miss objects by the skin of their teeth. Each energetic and well-edited set piece is set to a pumping Samba flava to depict the colour, vitality and spirit of Rio. It’s equally galvanising to see Diesel and Walker united in the driving seat once more, a little older and wiser, but just as tightly-sprung and testosterone-fuelled as before. In fact this film bathes in the latter, like an overpowering whiff of cheap aftershave that seems to rub off on the women, too. Mia has become more hard assed and hands on in this, but still keeps a dignified femininity. Sadly, even though this is set in Rio, you have to wait some time before the beautiful bodies lounging over hot throbbing bonnets come into view. Still, the willowy Gisele (Gal Gadot) returns for another job in biker leathers with a metal beast throbbing between her legs, and later in a miniscule bikini to whet the appetite first.
But by far the most gleefully splendid moments are those with Johnson as hunter Hobbs in the frame, especially the iconic one when the two ‘muscular man mountains’ of Diesel and him collide, which is worth the lack of car chase scenes alone, and could be one of cinema’s defining altercations. Indeed, Johnson is quite formidable in presence and gusto in this, but his character has a noticeable, fragile human side that adds to the intriguingly fine balance between good and bad in the narrative. There are a lot of guns and violence, so the film is at the far-end of its 12A rating, bordering more on 15.
Fast 5 also sees the welcome return of Dom’s nearest and dearest, including smooth-talking Roman (Tyrese Gibson), practical Tej (Chris ‘Ludacris’ Bridges), quick-thinking Han (Sung Kang) and banished Vince (Matt Schulze), a ploy to bring delight fans back – and yes, Han didn’t die in Tokyo Drift, it seems. Gibson and Ludacris provide the comedy act, signalling the highs and lows and camaraderie of the whole operation. Apart from the final grand gravity-defying and breath-stopping car chase through Rio that all players mightily deserve to participate in, considering the otherwise driving drought, there are some energising on-foot chase scenes and shootouts within the twisting pathways of the favelas to indulge in, as well as the ever charismatic Joaquim de Almeida as kingpin Reyes, another Latin baddie/businessman role that he effortlessly moulds and delivers with total credibility.
If you are expecting high revs and racing meets, you may be a tad disappointed with Fast 5. However, the characters, with the welcome addition of Johnson, will quickly reel your interest back in and get you on board because of their strong sense of values and purpose, and because we just love to witness them in action. Make sure you stick around for the end of the credits, though, for two nice surprises… Fast 6 might be being tuned up as we speak, and ready to be rolled out any time soon. As they say, ‘where there’s demand, there’s supply’, and this franchise will shoot up the box office chart because it’s undemanding and fiercely electrifying entertainment.
4/5 stars
By @FilmGazer
