Fast & Furious 5 [Fast Five] ***½ (2011, Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Jordana Brewster, Dwayne Johnson, Tyrese Gibson, Gal Gadot, Joaquim de Almeida, Ludacris) – Classic Movie Review 4537

Justin Lin and Chris Morgan, the director and writer of The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006), return for the thrilling, hard-revving 2011 American action film fifth instalment in the franchise.

Vin Diesel, Paul Walker and Jordana Brewster (all reprising their roles from the original 2001 The Fast and the Furious) make welcome returns too as Dominic Toretto, Brian O’Conner and Mia Toretto, who plan a heist to steal $100 million from corrupt businessman Hernan Reyes (Joaquim de Almeida) while being chased by US Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) agent Luke Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson).

For better or for worse, but certainly for more widely popular, it turns the franchise from street racing into a heist action series with cars, with only one car race and much more action with gun fights, brawls and of course the heist. Effectively mixing comedy and action sequences, it got deserved good reviews and grossed over $625 million worldwide. Diesel and Johnson work especially well together, and Walker is on good form too.

Another sequel, Fast & Furious 6, was released in May 2013 with Fast & Furious 7, released in April 2015, grossing over $1.5 billion worldwide.

© Derek Winnert 2016 Classic Movie Review 4537

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