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Fast Five: It's Entertaining, But Is It a Car Movie?
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Posted On: 4/29/2011 12:29PM
Exodus_10

About an hour ago I finished watching Fast Five, the fifth installment in The Fast and the Furious franchise. I liked it, but I left the theater thinking, "was that really a car movie?" Don't get me wrong, it has numerous vehicles of many types: a Lexus LFA, a 1970 Challenger, a 1972 Skyline, a Ford GT40, and even a Pantera to name a few. But the action of the film, unlike the others, is more action driven in the way of foot chases, gun fights and just good old fashioned fight scenes. A highlight of the film is a fight between Vin Diesel's Dominic Toretto and Dwayne Johnson's Hobbs. And there are more cars, especially cop cars, destroyed in the finale of the film than I have seen in a while--think Blues Brothers. But still, is it a car movie? Continue reading...

Certainly the finale is a great chase scene, but the highlight is the chase and not the cars. The film is more of a heist movie, very much in the vain of the Italian Job. And like the Italian Job there is a lot of planning and execution of ideas and plans. Without giving too much away, the team needs lots of fast cars to do the job, and they get these cars by winning various street races with the locals. But not a single race is shown--not one. There is a tease that you may see the first one, but then the scene cuts to Dom and Brian in the cars they have won. I felt a little cheated--it would be like editing out the scene in 2Fast 2Furious where Brian and Roman win the Camaro and Charger in a street race.

But again I liked the film despite its shortcomings. It has a great heist, the team works great together and the film gets a lot of comic relief from the relationships in the team. The film also really pulls lots of characters from the series, including a lot more of Matt Schulze's character Vince. Oh, and if you see it, wait a little into the credits for a tease of a sequel, during which they squeeze in one last character from earlier in the franchaise.

Comments (12)
Avatar By: SouthernGuy8503
4/29/2011 12:40 PM

To me the only movie that was actually a car movie was the 1st one while Tokyo Drift was probably the 2nd closest to being an all car movie. You can't make everybody happy, some want more of a plot with badass cars while others want just a racing movie with a small plot like the 1st one. Me? I'm not too picky, I've loved them all while "2 Fast 2 Furious" was probably my least favorite out of the franchise. Think about it though, really think they would have made it to a 5th movie if all they did every single movie like the 1st one? People would get bored over them (most likely after seeing the 3rd one) saying they're all generally the same, then the 4th one would have been a bust and then no 5th one. At least that's my 2 cents.

 
Avatar By: DodgeAdict
4/29/2011 1:31 PM

I like all four of the movies so far (I sadly haven't seen Fast Five just yet) I actually saw the last F&F three times in theaters. I'm a car guy through and through, and even if the movie isn't a strait car movie like the original F&F I still cant get enough of the babes, crazy wrecks, and amazing custom cars that are included in each movie (think the two Chevy trucks from the fuel heist seen in F&F 4). My opinion is, no matter what you think of Fast Five.. go see it and you just might be surprised how much you like it.

 
Avatar By: cknarf
4/29/2011 2:53 PM

When it comes to car movies, I prefer chases, with minimal plot. It doesn't even have to be flashy, a good one-on-one chase will make my day.

 
Avatar By: Blackcompany
4/29/2011 9:47 PM

I think the films have matured from the terribly riced out vehicles and the extreme amounts of negative attention from the kids street racing into something that provides entertainment while reaching to a larger audience. Its good business. I will always enjoy the absurdity of the earlier films but this sits better on my conscience, especially now that I have children and am thinking about the influences that media will have on their lives.

 
Avatar By: ___nes___
4/29/2011 10:02 PM

I haven't seen it yet but for what I hear the italian job has more car pron than this.

 
Avatar By: tazgts
4/30/2011 12:35 AM

I'd say it was definitely a car movie and was surprised how popular it is, sold out shows at my theater. Anyway, it was way too deep and epic (and even funny) to completely revolve around cars the whole movie! It has something for everyone.

 
Avatar By: Mike-D2009
4/30/2011 4:21 AM

Definitely understand, I thought the movie was amazing but as for it being a car movie, yes it had cars but it was missing a little, for example the picture used on this post Dom and O'Conner come back from winning the porsche in the backround in a race..... where was the race!!!!! That sence came and I was like "yes a good race through the streets of Rio" and then it cuts to them driving the porsche into the warehouse. But even though it was missing that I dont regret seeing this movie at all I loved every minute of it!

 
Avatar By: tm1987
4/30/2011 1:56 PM

i thought the movie was perfect. id love to go see it again! plenty of cars, hot females, more than enough action, great comedy.

 
Avatar By: dodgethiz12
4/30/2011 2:17 PM

I agree with Mike-D2009, I really wanted to see that race between the Porsche and the Charger. Then at the end of the movie I wanted to see Paul Walker's new GTR race Dom's new Challenger!! But I can't wait for the sixth one..Letty's alive???

 
Avatar By: ghardy27
5/1/2011 7:35 AM

it looked like ocean eleven in cars to me... dont go see it at the drive in.... too many kids with woofers.. lol crappy sound because of them..

 
Avatar By: locomah
5/1/2011 7:59 AM

i saw it yesterday, and while i really liked it, it didnt have a very 'car oriented' feel... you noticed the scene skip too?! i felt robbed

 
Avatar By: Eazytony
6/29/2011 9:49 AM

It was a great movie but somebody needs there ass kicked for not showing the race between the charger and the porsche. Whoever thought that was a good idea should not associate with car movies. If they plan on making the F&F movies like the James Bond Movies or the Italian Job then there fan base is gonna roll to a stop. Don't try to change whats already been proven a winner. Now they should come out with a limited edition Fast Five that shows the race and has an written apology saying sorry for the stupidity. Better Not Happen Again!!!

 

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