2. Fast Five
Fast Five marks the point at which the series crossed the creative Rubicon; armed with a stonking $125 million budget, it was a true make-or-break test of the Family’s wider commercial viability – a test it passed with flying colours.
At this juncture the series moved away from petrolhead fare towards a more broad-skewing heist thriller formula, the returning combo of writer Chris Morgan and director Justin Lin effectively birthing the blueprint for its future billon-dollar successes.
The Family as we know them became set in stone with Fast Five – before the concept later became a toe-curling parody of itself – with the likes of Roman, Tej, and Vince (Matt Schulze) being brought back into the fold. The Rio setting is a refreshing trade-up from what we’ve seen before, and though the plot itself is a load of hot nonsense, Morgan’s script seems acutely more aware of it this time.
As comical as the “one last job” throughline for Dom and company might seem today, it feels generally less bogged down by melodramatic trappings than many subsequent films, opting for serviceable yet breezy character froth in favour of the overwrought truisms present in later movies.
What best delineates Fast Five, though, is its action. The set-pieces evoke the playfully creative vibe of a child playing with Hot Wheels toys; sequences like the opening train heist and the closing vault theft – the latter remaining the series’ best action scene to date – are inherently ridiculous yet tethered to the ground by an emphasis on practical stunt work which makes more recent entries seem literally animated by comparison.
Seeing the Family firing guns does prove a little jarring during the favela shootouts, and there’s a surprisingly high goon body count in the film overall, though given the plot’s focus on Rio’s dark political heart, such violence doesn’t feel entirely out of place.
Regardless, Lin ensures every cent of his budget is splashed up on the screen, his silky smooth camera coverage savouring every last frame of vehicular pinball. As the icing on the cake, this is the only Fast movie with an even remotely memorable musical score, courtesy of regular series composer Brian Tyler.
Even the sometimes-lengthy gaps between set-pieces don’t prove a chore, in large part thanks to the inspired casting of Dwayne “Franchise Viagra” Johnson as DSS agent Luke Hobbs. A freight train of charisma from his awesome introductory scene onwards, Johnson is a frankly ingenious addition to the franchise whose larger-than-life stature helps jolt the flagging series back to vitality – if also further underlining the valley of charisma that lies between Diesel and the rest of the ensemble cast.
Fast Five crystallised the series’ dominant formula with its appealing ensemble cast and spectacular action – particularly that unforgettable vault haul across Rio. It’s a damn shame the post-credits cameo from Eva Mendes’ Monica Fuentes was never followed up on, though.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★
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Originally published July 3, 2021. Updated July 19, 2021.
