MOVIE REVIEW - Fast And Furious 6

I have a general rule of thumb that I have found out to be mostly true.  The higher the number next to the movie title, the worse the movie.  Here comes Fast And Furious 6.   High enough?

But this time, I think we need to go down a slightly different path.  Let's face facts together. These movies are...what they are.  They are too long, with agonizingly long action sequences that defy any kind of believability.   They develop characters that don't exist in the real world, and everyone generally walks away OK, no matter what the plot.   So, that's been swallowed and digested.

I remember years ago when one of my friends 13 year-old son said to me, the original Fast And Furious (2001) was "The best movie of all-time!"  Well of course, that is not true in any sense of the word, but it is the first step in making this now 6 movie set relevant.  I think then, a whole lot of young boys felt that way, and now that they are mid twenties, they still feel the same to a degree. This series has grown with its audience and cultivated a new one along the way.  They have benefited greatly from pay-per-view, and DVD's and new 14 year olds have caught up on the saga, and now can't wait to go to this one.

In that regard this is an amazing franchise.  The opening Memorial Day weekend take was 130 million for this movie, and it is just getting started. This series almost died after the huge flop of Fast and Furious 3 Tokyo Drift. But they reloaded, and restarted it and now the past two, and this one are going to be wildly profitable.  This had a budget of 140 million or so, and that will be paid back time and time again.  Whether this is good movie making or not, you can't deny the success over now 13 years for this, and it is a cash cow.

This installment is has the same formula that the first few had.  There are fast cars, endless chase scenes, lots of things blowing up, tempered violence, tons of action, and lots of women showing just enough skin, and skimp to keep these rated PG-13.  There are portions of this that cross the line of being completely ridiculous, and eye-rolling, until you remember that it's not for you.  It's for you at a younger time in life.   Yes, these are way more violent than movies 25 years ago, but it's non-bloody, and inconsequential.  Doesn't make it a role model for perfect teen viewing, but in today's world, kids see a lot worse.

The cast is back, Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, The Rock, Michelle Rodriguez,  Ludacris and the others.  Here we also get to see the wonderful Gina Carano in an action role.  This band of former street racers now is trying to save the world, and have their names cleared.  Should be noted, Diesel doesn't look as young as he used too, but this is still his franchise.  He is also blessed with the most original voice in Hollywood.

I have respect for this franchise.  They somehow have been able to maintain a huge fan base, and make movies that these teen boys, and now young guys want to see.  It's a guilty pleasure of sorts, that seems to be gaining momentum as the years go on, and not lose any.  Not an easy feat. Is this great movie making?  Well, no, not really.   It's all action, noises, and special effects and they are pretty darn good and that's not lost on me.  But this will not be picking up any hardware at years end.   And it's not supposed to. But it's gigantic  box office success, makes it possible for the studio to make movies that will.  Oh, and stay and watch the cookies, there's going to be another one.

Fast And Furious 6.  Still relevant.