Movie franchises, not based on a long and established book series like Harry Potter, generally fade with time, generate lower returns with the sequels, switch to direct-to-DVD releases and if it's worth it, may be rebooted at some point of time. Or else they end after a trilogy has been shot, for the pay-scale of actors, directors and practically everyone shoots up, once the three movies mentioned in their contracts are done with and been successful. But the Fast & Furious franchise has acted in its own strange little way. After Vin Diesel had opted out of the sequel to the original, and Paul Walker went missing from the third, the franchise was all set to end. It should have in fact, it seemed like the obvious thing to happen. But a cameo from Vin Diesel at the end of the third movie got the studio thinking, and boom... just like that, they got the old crew back, added new big characters, and have successfully transitioned the series from street-racing action to heist dramas, giving us three more delightful action-filled movies, with a seventh already underway! Wicked!
Fast & Furious 6 continues from where Fast Five left off. Dominic Toretto's (Vin Diesel) crew is still on the Wanted list but the members have safely relocated to various places around the globe, upgrading their lifestyles after the big haul from Rio. Enter Owen Shaw (Luke Evans) and his crew, which includes a certain Letty (Michelle Rodriguez), who are knocking off military convoys with a bigger plan in mind. Agent Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) knows only one crew who can stop them (of course!). Time to call them out of their retirement. And what's in it for Toretto and Brian O'Conner (Paul Walker) and the crew? Chance to take Letty home, and complete amnesty for their past crimes. Fair enough! What follows next is packed with slick action, action and more action, in the Fast & Furious style. Vrooommm!
Much of the credit for the transformation/resurrection of the series has to go to the director Justin Lin and the writer Chris Morgan who have been at the helm of things from the third movie onwards. They have scaled up the activities of Toretto's crew quite well, creating bigger personas and a sense of awe around them. Fast & Furious 6 works further in the same direction, establishing a reason to bring these wanted criminals back into normal society. The movie again excels in creating some of the most exciting car chase scenes seen in Hollywood, starting off with two cars accelerating across a narrow roadway in a mountainous terrain, a full throttle chase in the busy streets of London, fun filled street car race, and a massive finale in Spain that simply blows you away. If you thought the final chase in Brazil in Fast Five topped in terms of mindless but pulsating action and speed, you ain't seen nothing yet till you watch what unfolds in the last thirty odd minutes of Fast & Furious 6.
Justin Lin in his final movie as director for this franchise, makes this movie tick in the way he made the others do too. By shooting the riveting action scenes with some really cool camera placements, slick editing, and perfect sound mixers, keeping a simplistic plot around it, which even if you care not much about would not ruin your day. If for some reason you did wonder about the basic plot premise, you would find big enough holes in it that an alligator can nestle in. So better stop asking, 'how is this possible?', or 'why did he do this?' and enjoy the main reason one walks into a Fast & Furious movie, the action.
As one would say that a car is not complete without its driver, the same holds good here. While none of these actors are walking away with the Academy Award, their dead-pan expressions and gruff voices are the perfect fit for these movies. The crew here has worked together for quite sometime now and the camaraderie is there to be seen. The broad theme of this movie is not surprisingly, 'family is everything'. Vin Diesel and Paul Walker fit well together, Dwayne Johnson flexes his muscles at every given chance, and return of Michelle Rodriguez kinda completes things again. The love between Sung Kang's Han and Gal Gadot's Gisele grows in its own way, while Chris Bridges as Tej and Tyrese Gibson as Roman shine in most of the hilarious moments of the movie. Jordana Brewster as Mia has a limited role in this one, but heck, there are so many actors to contend with now! Luke Evans, the antagonist of the movie, establishes a strong screen presence and his deep Welsh voice had me engrossed before with his performance in The Raven. Evans could be an actor worth keeping an eye out for; he would be seen next in the two upcoming movies of The Hobbit series.
Two moments in this movie, apart from the car chases, which are worth pointing out. First, the fight scenes between Gina Carano, playing an agent assisting Hobbs, and Michelle Rodriguez. They have given the word 'cat fight' a different dimension altogether. Carano is a professional MMA fighter, Rodriguez is one of those few ass-kicking female actors, and put them together, they had a well-shot grueling combat scene, which made the other fights look tame! Second, the end-credit scene, of course. Boy, oh boy! Apart from the post-credit scenes of the movies in the Avengers lineup, I cannot think of any other where the audience went 'woooahhh!' at such a decibel level. And it deserved it, it was perfect, it was terrific! The tone has already been set for the seventh movie (releasing next year), with this end-credit scene and now Torreto, you gonna meet someone such as whom you have never met before! Get, set, go......
PS: Don't miss the opening credits as well. There is a montage created from scenes of the previous movies, many with Diesel and Walker in it. It sets the mood as the song We Own It by Wiz Khalifa ft 2 Chainz plays in the background!
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