Quarter Mile on a Fast Lane

Finally Fast and Furious 6 hits Japan! Or as Justin Lin called it, Furious 6; or as the Japanese called it, Wild Speed: Euro Mission. Thanks to the brilliant Fast Five, now we have this sixth entry to the ever-growing franchise. The film adds Haywire's Gina Carano, Luke Evans and brings back Michelle Rodriguez while totally removes the two Mexican siblings character. After the cliffhanger ending to Fast Five, we know what would happen: bringing back Letty to the family.

The story starts as Agent Luke Hobbs (The Rock) tries to capture the global terrorist Owen Shaw (Evans) by putting Torretto's team back together, fight wolves with wolves he said. O'Conner and Mia already have a kid, Han and Gisele are trying to settle together, while Roman is just Roman with more money. Toretto wants to help Hobbs because they found Letty to be one of Shaw's crew.

The film is crazy entertaining. It's packed with action right from the start until the end. The action might be super over-the-top but hey, anything to make our tickets and time worthwhile. Particularly the Toretto's super-jump to save Letty, that's like the coolest and sweetest thing at the same time. Although, as a whole, Fast Five wins by default. FF6 is better in the villains and the stunts. I like Gina Carano's addition to the franchise although not liking the way her character turned out. Gina Carano vs Michelle Rodriguez might be the coolest girl-on-girl fight ever filmed. Everytime Gina Carano flips and locks, my jaw dropped, which happens throughout Haywire. But her acting might be a little off from the others. And then there's Joe Taslim from Indonesia (woohooo!). His screentime apparently is quite plenty which I did not expect. So proud of him being in one of the biggest Hollywood film of the year. For the other cast, everyone seems to be better than before, most notably Paul Walker. Vin Diesel is cooler, Tyrese is super funny, and whoever doesn't love Sung Kang and Gal Gadot together can start looking for their lost soul. And there's a cameo from Rita Ora too!

Letty's return might be too cliche but still passable. And the writer's decision to include Braga from FF4 is quite smart (not to mention the Tokyo Drift connection, which is incredible). Plus, the always-included 'family comes first' motto is a high point in the script. But my least liked decision about the film is still the fact that Mia is pregnant which avoided her from doing much action. And also the exclusion of Elsa Pataky's character in the story which is a big loss. In all its great action sequences, Fast and Furious 6 still manages to be the Game of Thrones of Hollywood films by killing the beloved characters and doesn't give them a proper closure. Come on, if Han really loved Gisele, would he just wait for her to emerge from the fires? He would find her body and bury her himself! That waiting from the fire scene is just plain silly. Also Elena's total willingness to be traded with Letty is cringe-worthy. But that's nice of Dom to still invite her to the family. However, I can live with that now that JASON STATHAM IS ON BOARD FOR FF7! SPOILER ALERT B*TCHESSSSSSS. Fast & Furious 6: rated 3.7/4 (minus points for the silly parts, plus points for the cool parts)



BONUS three-sentence reviews:
1. Trance
Danny Boyle's latest is a fun, trippy film like its title drawing inspiration from Inception. James McAvoy is amazing but the film's level of mindfuck is just slightly below standards for these kind of films. 3/4 

2. Spring Breakers
One of my most anticipated film of the year. Think of it as your average teen film meets Terrence Malick meets Nicolas Winding Refn and add that with cool Cliff Martinez/Skrillex soundtrack and one of James Franco's best performance. It has flaws but can you really hate a film with two Britney Spears song? 3/4

3. 42
A good old-fashioned true-story drama. Great direction, great acting, great film. It has Harrison Ford, Alan Tudyk and also Lucas Black of Tokyo Drift. However it's just so formulaic to default. 3.5/4

4. Evil Dead (2013)
The remake to one of the most effective horror film ever. It substitutes black humor with gore, with so much gore. The final scene is just the best sequence ever in a horror film but this being the most terrifying film experience? Definitely not. 3.5/4


Maybe no new film reviews until The Lone Ranger finally opens on August 2. See you soon!