RFTP: Fast 5...

...is the kind of film which decides out of nowhere it's time for a car race. Why? Because we've not had one in a while, that's why!

Thoroughly cheesy and equally fun, no one's going to confuse Fast 5 for high cinema but it's definitely solid action/car porn for guys. Picking up immediately where the last film left off - the physics defying jail break of Vin Diesel's character from his prisoner transport bus - the movie is essentially a series of high tempo action sequences interspersed with comedy and glued together with just enough high grade Canadian Cheddar exposition to keep it coherent. Some people have called it Ocean's 11 meets Prison Break but really, at it's core, it's a "One Last Job" movie mixed with a little "Robin Hood-ism", as our hardened criminals are now tempered by their Police pal, stirred together using a spoon of "On The Run", and baked in an oven from "We're All Family".

The chase bit is probably the weakest part of the film as conceived. One of the problems is just how stationary the cast can get in a town "controlled" by people from both sides of the law actively looking to get their heads on a pike; literally or figuratively. There's a rather large suspension of disbelief required that a bunch of street racers with large prices on their heads can take over an abandoned warehouse and no one in town is going to notice the sounds of cars doing high speed laps around the space. There is a pretty standard double-cross setup that gets teased and then smartly tossed away though.

But, let's be honest here for a second, Inception levels of detail in the script aren't what anyone's coming to this movie to see. They're coming for the car chases and action and the movie is bursting with both so… if that's your thing you should probably see this. If not, then it's still a fun little film but you can probably wait for TV/Rental.

Note: Setup for whatever Fast and Furious 6 is going to be called is after the first set of credits, so you'll want to stick around if you're interested.