I will start things off by saying that by no means am I fan of this franchise, it has just never done anything for me. I have seen the first, second and third films and after those I basically gave up. I came to the conclusion that these films just weren't for me and that I was never going to appreciate them for what they were. That being said, in 2011 Fast Five was released and to my amazement rave reviews were coming in from both film goers and critics alike. Both this and the release of Fast & Furious 6 to a similar reception was my reasoning for going to watch the new installment. After watching it, I can safely say, it was a blast! Now don't get me wrong, if you are expecting top notch stuff in the departments of acting, plot etc then you are missing the point completely. This is a film that is trying to execute action to the highest possible degree and trying to be the definition of a 'summer blockbuster'. The fact that the sub par acting, cheesy lines and unbelievably over the top action scenes work so well, just shows that this film has truly nailed what it was trying to be.
Starting out with the plot, there is just about enough to work with in order to drive the film forward and give reasoning for all of this mayhem ensuing. For what it was worth, I thought it was totally fine and that there was enough of a story that could go somewhere in order to give the action some depth and layers to it. I liked the inclusion of Vin Diesel's ex-girlfriend's arc in which she was in fact working for the villain. Her memory loss seems like it was an intricate part of a previous installment, which is nicely touched upon via a flashback.
As well as this, there was plenty of nods, references and inside jokes that worked on both levels. This was a great addition and once again, credit goes to Justin Lin and this time Chris Morgan for making it so easily accessible that anybody could thoroughly enjoy what was going on both via the action and the dialogue between characters.
The aspect that I would say most impressed me as I was reflecting on the movie was the action sequences. Now of course, these are the whole reason that these films are made, as well as the appeal of them to such a wide audience. For the first three films especially, I'm unsure about the other two, but I always felt that because they were racing films, they always held back on the action front. This might have been because of the plots that they were focusing on restricted them to the sequences and events that they could carry out. In Fast & Furious 6 however, they certainly let the cat out of the bag on this front. Every sequence was bigger and crazier than the last and it felt as if they had a real hell of a time making this film. You can just feel the buzz and energy throughout the action, that a lot of heart and hard work went into making these as much of a spectacle as they truly are. Something that was a general shock was the shooting of these sequences. This is both a combination of the solid directing and smooth editing that made these so effective as I've never come across a film like this that had such clear, well crafted action set pieces. Each and every single shot was beautifully lit and clearly presented so that when it all came together, you actually knew what was happening for once. This can be a major downfall of any action film when you get this overly large car chase or shoot out and the camera is shaking that much or the editing is that choppy and overly paced that you can't make out what is happening. This couldn't be more opposite to how Fast & Furious 6 handled the matter, giving a real immersion into what was taking place and gripping the audience throughout each second of it. Both the director and editor deserve a massive amount of praise for this.
Another thing that I felt was handled entirely well was the dialogue between the members of the team. You have actors like Tyrese Gibson who are perfect are providing a substantial amount of banter and great delivery of witty lines that are put in front of him. This was the case for Fast & Furious 6, which again I can't compare to Fast Five but to the first three films I have seen was far superior on this level than all of those combined. Undeniably, the script was cheesy and full of those classic action 'one-liners' but you have to take into account that it is purposefully over the top and for a fun, summer time film it works immaculately. The characters really play off each other well, all bringing something to the table that the other doesn't, making each of them vital for the film's execution.
The overall pacing for the film was accurate for what Justin Lin was trying to do. It almost mirrored that of Star Trek: Into Darkness in which it never seemed to come to a halt. It was just action scene after action scene, and in moments that it felt like it could come up a little short and maybe drag when the tone was a little more serious, something outrageous happened or a character would provide comic relief to break the ice and keep the momentum going. To say this film was exhilarating would be a mere understatement, not giving enough credit to the combination of the director, writer and editor once again.
My main problem that I had with the film was more so about its marketing than the film itself. I'm not sure who entirely produces these trailers for movies like this but they do a mixed job in my opinion. Yes they are overly creative in putting together a trailer that will attract mass amounts of people and bring in a ton of income but why does so much have to be spoilt? Now it's not like major plot points were given away because it is a mindless action film, so there wasn't any concerns over that. It was that just about every single action set piece was given away. They didn't hold back on spoiling even some of the climatic scenes to both the action sequences and the entire film! This was a disappointment because too many times was I left saying things like "I've already seen that part" and "Oh well I remember this part, that happens soon". I want to be left amazed and blown away by these sequences, not sat in my chair feeling like I've seen the major parts of the biggest set piece in the film.
A minor gripe that I should probably mention too was that it was definitely longer than it had to be. This was down to the stretching out of some scenes that could be considered to be unnecessary such as moments were the tone shifted and it tried to come off as slightly more serious than it should be. I didn't have a major problem with this as I was enjoying what I was seeing but there are definitely moments that could have been removed or cut short and this would have in no way hindered the film's effect or my enjoyment of it.
Overall, Fast & Furious 6 is a nice, thoroughly enjoyable action packed summer flick that certainly delivers on the fronts that you would expect it too. It works for both fans of the series as well as people that are unfamiliar to the franchise. The last thing I will say is that it's clear that the films have taken a swift change in direction going from racing films to more general action films and it is the best possible choice that could have been made. Not only does it attract much larger audiences which returns more income, they are much more enjoyable as they aren't restricted to what can and can't be included as well as giving them much more possibilities and directions to take in future installments.
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