Film Review “Fast & Furious 6”

Starring: Vin Diesel, Paul Walker and Dwayne Johnson
Directed by: Justin Lin
Rated: PG 13
Running time: 2 hrs 10 mins
Universal

Our Score: 2 out of 5 stars

When we last saw Dom (Diesel), Brian (Walker) and company they had just dragged a bank vault through the streets of Rio de Janero before heading off to a wealthy retirement. The film ended with Agent Hobbs (Johnson) being shown a photo of Dom’s girlfriend Lettie (Michelle Rodriguez) thought to be dead, taken recently. Bum! Bum! Bum!

At least a half-hour too long, “Fast and Furious 6” is not fast, which made my backside furious. Both Dom and Brian have settled down (Brian and his woman have just had a baby), declaring the old life over. But they are soon back in business when they are asked to track down another group of fast-drivers who have been targeting military hardware. Hobbs gets Dom to help out by showing him the photograph of Lettie. But things don’t go as planned when he first locates her. Unless he planned on her putting a bullet in him. Darn that amnesia…..some people can’t remember anything.

Packed with action that goes on F O R E V E R, “FF6” seems to have been made with the motto “anything worth doing is worth doing long.” I like cool car chases and epic stunts but not as the only reason to see a film. Of course the “FF” series has really been built on cool car chases and epic stunts, but this time it all seems so formulaic that it downright disappoints.

After this many films the roles have got to be getting boring to the cast. At least that is how they seem here. Even Diesel, who has always made Dom interesting, seems to be walking through the film. Surprisingly only Rodriguez shows any spark – perhaps missing the last film charged her batteries.

A film that’s all flash and no substance, only true fans of the series will truly enjoy it. And stay around for a sneak peak at “FF7.” To me it was the best part of the evening.