Monday, December 2, 2013

Fast Five

Paul Walker and Jordana Brewster spring the Diesel from prison and escape to Rio to hideout. Desperate for funds, the couple join the unwelcoming Diesel on a heist of DEA seized whips, from the same locomotive on which the agents are accompanying them. After the attempted jacking goes wrong, and Walker and the Diesel do an 80 foot plus nose dive off a cliff into a river, they now must assemble every principle from their previous adventures and knockoff a drug kingpin's stash which is being stored in police lockup with jacked up super cop The Rock in hot pursuit. "Fast Five" (yes the fifth installment) is actually a pretty fun ride for its intentionally unintentionally funny first half hour. Then, as the cast members from the other films are rounded up, all the fun is sucked out of the film and it begins to resemble an "Ocean's 11" knockoff. Also the action scenes which are at first so well choreographed and cleanly filmed (not queasy cam) quickly degenerate, becoming standard issue and incomprehensible. I haven't seen any "The Fast and the Furious" films since the first one and didn't much desire to see this installment but did anyway due to good word-of-mouth. I don't regret watching it. I actually enjoyed doing so. I can only imagine what could have been if they were able to maintain the momentum garnered at the outset.