Fast and Furious 6 - Movie Review

The Fast and Furious franchise has gone through some major changes since the first installment first became a surprise smash hit. What started as a way to capitalize on the import car culture that had captured the youth of America's attention has now become one of the world's biggest action series. Director Justin Lin once again takes the reigns as The Rock, Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Michelle Rodriguez, and Tyrese Gibson return to their starring roles in Fast and Furious 6.

The story picks up not long after where the last movie left off with Dom (Diesel) and O'Conner (Walker) finally settling into a more peaceful existence than what they have been used to for the past several years. When federal agent Hobbs (Johnson) catches up with them, he isn't trying to bring them in, but is instead looking to have them join him so they can help to capture a new and even bigger threat.

That threat is one Owen Shaw (Luke Evans), a former special ops soldier who now specializes in vehicular warfare and large scale robberies on a scale that makes Toretto and company look like some small time crooks. The crew only agree to form an alliance with Hobbs after he reveals the reappearance of Dom's former flame Letty (Rodriguez) who was thought to have been killed (unless you saw the post credit sequence from Fast Five, of course).

So, there's the basic setup of the story and that's really all you need to know going in. What you can expect beyond that is a non stop action movie that will have you cheering, clapping, and hollering at all the jaw dropping moments of sheer craziness thrown up on the screen. Seriously, see this movie in the theater, it is worth every penny with all the car crashing, tank exploding, elbow smashing awesomeness going on throughout the two hour and ten minute run time.

So, you're reading this and you're wondering about the finer points of Vin Diesel and The Rock's acting performances, or maybe you're interested in the character development and technical aspects of how Justin Lin put this fine piece of art together. Um...please stop reading my reviews. Seriously. This is a Fast and Furious movie. This intimate little feature film has just enough "acting" and dialogue thrown in to keep you informed as to what is going on, but outside of that, its all about the high flying stunts and high tech special effects which, while I will admit tend to go a little over the top here and there, are very, very impressive.

Honestly, before part 5 hit the screen, I was not a fan of this franchise in any way, shape, or form, but once they turned the corner and transformed this series into major blockbuster status, it is now easily one of my favorites. The writers do a great job of keeping things fresh while still utilizing the history that has been built up to this point and now, when you see everyone on screen together, its like visiting old friends that you love hanging out with. If you want me to use just one word to describe Fast and Furious 6, that one word would undoubtedly be holycrapthatwassofreakingawesome! You're welcome.