Fast Five

I sincerely doubt that the screenplay contains other words than onomatopoeias, but this just makes it more powerful the way all the “boom, crack, screech, ratatatat, splosh etc." could be reformed into such intense and easy to follow action in the movie which is a lot (really a lot!) more similar to classic heist movies with cars (the original The Italian Job) and big budget, no holds barred action movies like Bad Guys II than to earlier parts that, if you were being kind, were barely average, tuned up CGI trash for teens. And the action is unusually varied, from testosterone-charged hand to hand combat, through various mass shootouts in the favelas, to demolition derby involving half of all cars in Rio. (06/05/2011)

An action-packed western with Rio instead of the Wild West, fast cars instead of horses and a drug kingpin instead of a railroad tycoon (the opening jump/fall into the water can be understood as picking up where Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid left off). The family subtext is needless and the action scenes are, to put it kindly, ridiculous, but if for no other reason (such as Gal Gadot), the heavy-duty confrontation between Diesel and the Rock prompts me to gladly forgive the film for its clumsy dialogue and disrespect for the laws of physics. A smarter spectacle would have come at the cost of leaving out the scene in which a ten-tonne safe attached to two racing cars cheerfully demolishes the streets of the Brazilian metropolis. Either take Fast Five with all of its testosterone-fuelled theatricality or forget that it even exists. 80% (10/04/2012)

Cruelty, gore, and thrills just the way we like it! Definitely the best installment and cast. I absolutely squealed with joy several times at how amazing it was. But what got me most of all was the atmosphere and music during the opening of the safe. The last time I was this fired up was with Armageddon. (26/05/2011)

The series is transforming from a tuning exhibition for teenagers to full-blooded action blockbusters, where the roar of engines is drowned out by fusillades from machine guns and shotguns. Fast Five offers a well-coordinated team of partners in crime, the wild jungle of Rio de Janeiro and a surprisingly elaborate and ambitious script that overshadowed Bay’s Bad Boys II (which is thematically similar in many ways and met with mixed reviews). The movie’s creators hit the bull’s-eye by casting The Rock, who boosted the film to the testosterone maximum. In a single 130-minute film, there are no fewer than three bands of tough guys equipped with great cars and big guns fighting one another. What more can we wish for in this genre? (05/05/2011)

The first film of the franchise that I watch, attracted by the very good reviews. What I got was precisely what I expected: very well made silliness. Some of the one-liners are funny, some are ridiculous. The action is pretty brutal, you can really feel the style and the energy, even if (especially by the end) it felt a little physically fairytale-like. It’s a watchable film and one of the best in the “summer action nonsense” category. (25/08/2011)