'Fast Five'

'Fast Five' (PG-13) (3 stars)

Writer: Chris Morgan based on characters created by Gary Scott Thompson
Director: Justin Lin
Starring: Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Dwayne Johnson, Jordana Brewster,
Tyrese Gibson, Chris "Ludacris" Bridges, Joaquin de Almeida, Elsa Pataky,
Cal Gadot, Matt Schulze

Somehow along the journey "The Fast and the Furious" movies lost their way. The first two movies were fine, the third one in Tokyo was boring and the fourth one was an embarrasment. The fourth movie was bad even on a car chase, action level with a story that was insulting. The third and fourth movies forgot what made the first two successful. They were glorified "B" movies and didn't try to be anything more. "Fast Five" gets the job done and I think might be the best one out of all the movies. The same group of filmmakers who made the fourth might agree with me for this fifth movie has improved the series vastly

"Fast Five" reunites the charisma free Vin Diesel, Paul Walker and Jordana Brewster as Dom, Brian and Mia. Brian and Mia break Dom out of a prison bus and they all head out to Brazil. That is a smart movie for this story to add a colorful third character in Brazil, more colorful than the three leads. The three also try to execute a robbery of cars from a train and are framed for the murder of DEA agents. They are being chased by a stubborn DSS agent, Luke Hobbs, for those murders while they plan another big heist. They also try to steal millions from a crooked businessman played by classic bad guy actor Joaquin de Almeida.

Dom and the gang need help on this robbery so they recruit past characters from the first four movies. That is another smart move because the movie is funnier and more charming for the addition of these fun characters. They are led by Tyrese Gibson and Chris "Ludacris" Bridges who steal the movie. They are both funny and have great chemistry and I think they should get their own movie spin off movie. The movie is also stolen by Dwayne Johnson who gives great line readings and sure can fight. I am a wrestling fan but I think Johnson should be in an action movie every year. He has more charisma and better screen presence than most action stars out there and he blows away Diesel and Walker.

With the large cast and great work by all especially Bridges and Gibson the movie delightfully comes off as an "Oceans Eleven" type movie. It is in fact better than the Oceans sequels and it also has the best chases and stunts out of the whole "Fast and the Furious" series. You also have two hot women to stare at in Elsa Pataky and Cal Gadot even though their acting isn't the best. That is also true of Diesel, Walker and Brewster who have never been that great of actors to begin with. This is one reason why Walker has never become a star in his career.

The movie has wonderful car chases and a great fight by Johnson and Diesel which are better than anything in "The Expendables". There is also a doozy of a car chase where Dom and Brian drive two cars that are tied up to a huge bank vault. They rip the vault out of the bank and drag it through the streets of Rio de Janeiro. I love how the cables tied to the vault take out a plethora of cars, power lines and trees. It is a long extended chase that is a lot of fun with spectacular stunts. I came in dreading seeing this movie after the last one but I was shocked. I had a hell of a fun time and thought it worked well. Now the creators need to quickly get on that spin off movie where Dwayne Johnson chases after Ludacris and Tyrese!