About That Sixth "Fast & Furious" Movie

The first thing that really struck me about the sixth "Fast & Furious" movie was the opening credits sequence. The way it played out, with the names of the cast members popping up over a montage of clips from the past five movies, it looked an awful lot like the opening credits of a television show - that is if most television shows still had proper opening credits. "Fast & Furious 6," or technically "Furious 6," is the first of the series to depend heavily on the franchise's mythology. The story has far more impact if you know about the events of some of the previous "Fast" films, specifically the third and fourth installments. That's not to say that you can't follow along perfectly well without having any knowledge of the earlier films, which I didn't, but there's a clear sense of a series mythology that has built up over the course of this very strange and interesting movie franchise.

There's hardly any point in describing the plot here. If you've seen any of the later "Fast" films, or even the trailers, you have a good idea of what's involved here. Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) and his crew of talented auto enthusiasts are recruited by Agent Luke Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) to take down a baddie played by Owen Shaw (Luke Evans) using tactics that require a lot of improbable car stunts. Toretto isn't particularly interested in who Shaw is or what he's been stealing, however, one member of Shaw's crew is identified as Letty Ortiz (Michelle Rodriguez), Toretto's old girlfriend who was believed to have been killed a few movies earlier. Now she has amnesia, and has been manipulated into working for the wrong side. So Toretto assembles the rest of the cast from the previous movie: former policeman Brian O'Conner (Paul Walker), Roman Pearce (Tyrese Gibson), Tej Parker (Chris Bridges), Han Seoul-Oh (Sung Kang), and Gisele Yashar (Gal Gadot). Agent Hobbs also brings along Agent Riley Hicks (Gina Carano), so she can have a couple of hand-to-hand combat scenes with Letty that rival many of the flashier stunts in the movie.

It has been widely reported that the "Fast" franchise had successfully made the transition from a series about small scale street racing to large scale action spectacular, specifically a heist format for "Fast 5." The latest sequel dabbles in several different brands of action film, including a brief digression back into street racing. The supporting characters are sent off to infiltrate a prison, chase down suspects, and take care of other business, providing a nice variety in the type of fights and stunts we get to see. This all builds up to the predictably insane, massive-scale set pieces at the end. One involves a freeway chase and a tank, the other involves a cargo plane, and both are completely impossible by any sort of logical reasoning, but boy are they fun to watch. Whether or not the movie works for you depends entirely on how much suspension of disbelief you're willing to afford it. Even for a brainless action movie, the characters' motivations don't make any kind of sense, the plotting is remarkably shoddy, and after two movies I still don't know anything about Tyrese or Chris Bridges' characters except that they're black.

And yet, the action is exciting and well paced, the characters are likable and inoffensive, and there's a sense of real camaraderie among the good guys. The major throughline really is all about getting Letty back on the side of angels, cementing Toretto's repeated claims that the franchise is all about taking care of the family that he's built around himself. There aren't a lot of action franchises that are so thoughtfully grounded these days. I like that this series has such a multicultural cast, and the women actually get to participate in a fair bit of the action. You have to wait a while, but rest assured that Gina Carano is eventually allowed to do exactly what she does best - beat up everything onscreen. Even Toretto's sister Mia (Jordana Brewster), who gets sidelined for most of the movie taking care of a new baby, ends up back behind the wheel of a screamin' fast car eventually.

It's not difficult at all to see why "Fast & Furious" has become such a monster franchise over the last few years. It has managed to establish itself as a dependable delivery system for all your action movie needs, and has a warm and fuzzy sitcom center that is a nice departure from all the grittier, sleazier, bloodier, more testosterone-driven films that tend to occupy this territory. Oh sure, there are a few shots of gyrating sexy ladies, but you get the sense they're only there for show. I do love cheesy television action caper shows, and it's hard not to think of "Fast & Furious" as sharing the same DNA. I guess I wouldn't mind sitting through a few more episodes. And I hear Jason Statham's guest-starring in the next one.
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