Fast & Furious 6

The mechanical, hastily put together screenplay of Fast & Furious 6 is closer to Die Hard 5 than to Fast & Furious 5. Meeting, action, meeting, action, meeting, action and so on. The meetings are not as funny as they would like to be and the action is comically exaggerated and not easy enough to follow, given that Fast & Furious is the most successful action series of today. Furthermore, the sixth instalment does not take place in an attractive exotic environment like the fifth one does and its story has detours that make it unnecessarily protracted and less dynamic (the visit in the jail, Vin Diesel and Michelle Rodriguez racing), and we’ve already seen all of its highlights in the trailers. (26/05/2013)

Lin has hit his limits, given that situations involving the characters and their emotional interactions elude him, taking his own feet from under him and in the final decision-making, he is unable to offer more than self-sacrificing glances and theatrical gestures. That’s assuming he doesn't fire off any major action bombs, but rather a still technically brilliant arrangement that has since last time abandoned any semblance of reality and ventured into the sci-fi genre (without a major highlight, moreover). This necessarily means a rough and painful fall that's ultimately hampered by the cast where everyone has parked themselves into their roles in a way that feels like they were just born for them. (12/06/2014)

... and the bubble burst. NOS² testosterone³ in an absolutely unnecessarily over CGIed action scene which is more like gameplay footage than a regular movie. For Lin, this is a sad return to a never-ending series of routine movies that don’t know when to stop. However much number five was surprising (and deserved) winner of the action premier league, number six is on the brink of relegation to the second league of yawnably familiar rubbish. (23/05/2013)

Chris Morgan and Justin Lin knew what certainty they had in their hands, so it's a good thing they didn't have any reason to repeat themselves this time either. While the dialogue, after the previous simplification, have now ended up being nothing but slogans, wisdom, and catchphrases, the pace surprisingly slowed down and contrary to expectations, there is no exaggerated rush for any attraction. On one hand, that's a good thing because Brian can function as the main character thanks to his prison interlude; on the other hand, there is unexpectedly little happening in the first half. Nevertheless, the Furious gang easily reaches above average. In fact, some of the sequences really get your with their audiovisual concept (the race between Dom and Letty full of hypnotic atmosphere and well-deserved nostalgia), and the final inferno takes your breath away completely. And no, I'm not going to bother discussing the length of the runway in a movie where testosterone and gasoline can overpower absolutely anything. (08/07/2013)

A bit more spectacular again than no. 5. The title sequence nicely summarizes all past parts (except part 3) and throws us into the luxury life that the brand new millionaires Torreto/O'Connor enjoy the very full. There’s even a new addition to the family. Then Hobbs comes along and spoils everything with the photo. Then comes destruction, action, fights both male and female and, as usual, lots of fabulous cars and the phenomenal more-than-chases that seem to break the laws of physics. They are basically three really long and sophisticated, action scenes filmed the old way where sheet steel and people get dented. There’s even a TANK! Diesel and Lin egged each other on and stepped on the gas. Also the groundwork for the last (?) part is full of promise and at last justifies the making of the bland part 3. (25/05/2013)

The sixth film was almost able to convince me that Luke Evans is the worst actor in the world if I didn't know him from his many great roles. But Fast & Furious is a genre unto itself, and can only raise the credit of certain actors. The likes of Gal Gadot got three films in the series as a patch for not getting noticed in Quantum of Solace, and over the years she's made it from debutante Miss to someone Disney pays homage to in Ralph Breaks the Internet. That's not bad at all. (23/04/2022)

It is becoming a purely family affair. The chemistry among the cast is fantastic, the lines, the gags, and most of the dialogues are great. This is not a precisely rehearsed acting performance, this is the natural chemistry between people who have been working together for several years and create an incredibly likeable team. It can be seen, it can be felt. The improvisation, not artificiality, brought me the greatest joy. At the same time, it is good to say that Fast and Furious is slowly moving towards the style of The Expendables, because the cast is increasingly expanding not only in the main roles but also in the supporting roles (this time with Gina Carano). We already know that Jason Statham will be in the next part, so there will certainly be no lack of interesting faces. Despite all of this, the sixth part is not better than the fifth, not by a long shot. It may be "smoother," more grandiose, and with a higher budget, but one thing is megalomania (a tank on a highway) and another thing is scenes that totally lack logic and make the viewer feel like an idiot. The tank's destruction, Vin Diesel as Superman, a 10-kilometer-long runway, these are things that cannot be tolerated. The excellent fight between Carano and Michelle Rodriguez in the subway is good, especially the now legendary staircase-falling scene (captivating work in terms of stunts, camera work, editing, and emotions), a few well-destroyed cars, and excellent sound as a whole. However, the unpleasant "sci-fi" elements that the film is overloaded with are disappointing. It was difficult to go further after the fifth film, but it certainly did not have to go further in terms of action. It should have gone in a slightly different direction. (26/05/2013)

For me, this installment of the film series is roughly on the level of the oft-mocked second part: well made, but otherwise pretty bad. Thieves turn into secret agents, cars get hacked while driving with Bond-esque contraptions, Letty's resurrection is delivered like something out of the worst possible soap opera, the bad guy is as bad a character as the good guys... Plus the annoying pathos, not to mention the action scenes, which with all their car-to-car, car-to-plane, and plane-to-car jumps just crawl tongue-in-cheek to reality. Not much to see here. (20/05/2020)

Modern action. A dynamically directed, testosterone-packed, stunt-filled blockbuster bullshit that can only be enjoyed without reservations by an individual who has never sat in a car and has no idea about the insurmountable power of Earth's gravity or rustic logic. While the fifth one had a better and more sophisticated story and more imaginatively benefited from the presence of the hyper-cool Dwayne Johnson, this one offers a story of the most primitive kind, overblown action (driving around town with a dumpster is still an everyday criminal routine) and a powdery chemistry between characters we simply can't worry about in the ridiculously calculated climactic scenes. But it still looks very good, despite the insane runtime there's always something going on and Michelle Rodriguez is so hot that you simply can't help but cry guilty satisfaction at the end... 65% (08/06/2013)

The 6th installment of Fast & Furious accomplishes the same task as all previous installments in the franchise, which is to be a total reinterpretation of hip-hop culture into film form. But whereas in the previous installments the heroes' position corresponded to the socially conscious street offshoot of the genre where wealthy authority figures are an oppressive evil to be curtailed and stick to your family (i.e. your bros and hos), in the sixth installment, with eight-figure sums on the central characters' bills after the last heist, the series has definitively tipped into the tenets of mainstream hip-hop à la 50 Cent. The characters (literally) don't know what small coins look like, the target device they all covet is only mentioned in terms of its function once but six times in terms of its price, and they react to someone's insinuation that one of the characters can't afford something financially by buying up everything in sight and humiliating the skeptic in question. In that situation, it's exceedingly difficult to build any real empathy for the characters, all the more so if you don't have much of a relationship built up with them from previous installments. In fact, this installment is almost hospitable to anyone who DIDN'T grow up with the characters. It's not just the constant referencing and flashbacks, but the constant presentation of the characters' admitted aging, their more moderate outlook, and their attempts to settle down (imho a bit of a ruinous aspect for an action movie). Which is funny with action icons of the previous decade, when the same life situation is presented by action heroes like Willis, Sly, Schwarzenegger, Lundgren, van Damme, and many others – action stars who were in the limelight 20-30 years ago. The aspect of aging is also reflected in the action scenes, where only one out of three matches the target audience thus far (a school kid) and his playing with cars and tanks, where he completely disregards collateral damage and completely denies the existence of civilians in crushed cars. The next two scenes take place at night, a time when children do not play with cars so much and the presence of real death is more tangible. But in F&F6, even the death of one of the central characters passes with a hug, and then they're all smiling at each other and having a happy barbecue again. As a result, if the first installments of the series presented a Need for Speed video game, Episode 5 turned cars on their roofs, gave characters machine guns, and twisted the series into GTA, Episode 6 spiced it up with a dash of The Sims. Then again, I wonder if Jason Statham will mortally threaten Vin Diesel in the next installment by stealing the ladder to his pool. (03/09/2013)

When you go to see "Fast & Furious 6", you're not going to see a film that you expect to be art. You won't get that either. It's pointless to criticize it for not bringing anything to the world, I mean in the sense that it should have some kind of deeper meaning. This is an action ride, forget about any deeper meaning. It's all about fast cars, tough guys, beautiful women, and the classic good versus evil showdown. Sure, it's repetitive, sure, it doesn't bring anything new, but damn, it looks good, it works well, it has the right speed, and the final effect... It's just amazing. Sure, the running time is a bit stretched, you'll be waiting for the end half an hour earlier, but instead there's a prolonged sequence that ends with a fantastic chase on an infinitely long airport runway. For more information, visit: http://www.filmovy-denik.cz/2013/05/rychle-zbesile-6-2013-75.html (31/05/2013)

After a great fifth installment, Justin Lin keeps up the established trend. He presents another action-packed spectacle, which is no longer mainly about illegal street races and car chases in general, which often looked lame thanks to "special effects". Instead, the focus is on awesome action, where car chases only play a secondary role. Most importantly, they are much easier to follow than in the first four installments. Also, get ready for some explosions, shootouts, fights and, above all, great one-liners, which are really unforgettable, especially those uttered by The Rock. However, I watched the fifth installment before this one and it's still slightly better. (14/07/2013)