Paul Walker, The Rock and Vin Diesel are working together in the latest installment of the “Fast and the Furious” franchise. Photo by Giles Keyte.
Oh, look. The Rock has another new movie in theaters. Since February, he’s had a new movie out each month in 2013, so why should May be any different? This time its Fast & Furious 6 and he’s reprising the role of Luke Hobbs, the federal agent he portrayed in 2011’s Fast Five. But while he was in pursuit of Dominic (Vin Diesel) and his gang of criminal street racers in the last movie, this time he’s seeking their help in stopping an even bigger threat in Owen Shaw (hey, that’s Luke Evans who was just in that other movie with Brodus Clay). Shaw leads a gang of street racers who drive these seemingly indestructible little wedge racers in order to procure all the pieces needed for a device that could become a global threat if it ends up in the wrong hands. Oh, and apparently Dominic’s thought-to-be-dead girlfriend Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) is still alive, and working for the enemy.
The Rock and Gina Carano are just two of the good-looking badasses in “Fast & Furious 6”. Photo by Giles Keyte.
The Rock and Vin Diesel (alongside Ludacris, Tyrese Gibson, Gina Carano and a bunch of other good-looking badasses) make an imposing team, but their hot rods and sports cars just don’t stand a chance against Shaw’s resources. Especially when the guy steals a tank and starts blasting and crushing everything in his path during one big chase scene. It seems, however, that the resources and expertise of The Rock and Vin Diesel’s crew are equally unlimited as they have a headquarters filled with all sorts of computers, weapons and other gadgets that allow them to figure out Shaw’s next move whenever needed. Oh, and they steel this homemade harpoon gun thingy from one of Shaw’s cohorts that will end up being crucial to the outcome of pretty much every other action sequence in the movie.
So they figure out that Shaw is working with Arturo Braga (John Ortiz), who is in a Los Angeles prison. Then Paul Walker decides to just waltz back into America (where he is not only a former FBI agent turned criminal, but is also still a wanted fugitive), sneak into prison using an alias, confront Braga and his gang of thugs, leave prison and fly back out of the country to join back up with the rest of the gang. And after he beats up Braga and his thugs, he finds out that Letty is, indeed, still alive and has amnesia, which explains why she shot Dominic earlier in the movie. (Oh, and Dominic just pulls the bullet out of his chest and continues on his mission as if he was just stung by a bee or something.)
Vin Diesel prepares for one of many death-defying stunts in “Fast & Furious 6”. Photo courtesy Universal Pictures.
Anyway, so after that tank chase scene, Shaw is captured (and Vin Diesel defies all laws of logic and science by catapulting himself through the air, catching Letty as she is thrown from the tank and safely landing on the windshield of a car without even scraping an elbow). So even though Shaw was able to obtain the chip he needs to finish his master plan, the good guys now have it. But Shaw has something of more personal value to some of the good guys, so they set him free with the chip. There is a pretty good twist at this point, when Shaw asks Letty if she will be leaving with him. But as soon as Shaw is out the door, the good guys give chase. Then a huge military plane descends so Shaw can drive into the cargo bay and escape. But those harpoon guns come into play here as the good guys chase the plane down what has to be the world’s longest runway in an attempt to stop the plane from taking off.
I haven’t seen any of the previous Fast and the Furious movies, but I don’t think it really matters that much. This movie leaves a lot of ridiculous questions such as: Why does The Rock repeatedly say “sumbitch” even though he otherwise doesn’t have a Southern accent? Why does Vin Diesel always sound like his sinuses are stuffy and his mouth is full of marbles? How does Tyrese Gibson keep his muscular physique while always munching on candy bars and junk food? None of these questions are answered, but this movie can still be fun if you let it. The fight scenes are well choreographed, the car chases are spectacular and it doesn’t pretend to be anything more than what it is. Which is to say that Fast & Furious 6 is everything you should expect from a movie starring The Rock and Vin Diesel.