1.5/5
Stars
In this film, all the members of the crew,
who had given up the ‘fast and furious’ life post their Rio heist, come
together to bring down a mercenary organization, led by British Special Forces
soldier Owen Shaw.
The SIXTH film in the ‘Fast & Furious’
series, ‘Fast & Furious 6’ is another example of how the makers are running
out of stories to tell.
The only good element about this film was
the dialogue. Tyrese Gibson and Ludacris, who play Roman Pearce and Tej Parker
respectively, share wonderful camaraderie. The rest of the film is tepid, to
put it mildly. Even the car-chase and fight sequences leave a lot to be
desired. Not that one should look for logic in a ‘Fast & Furious’ film, but
this one is devoid of entertainment as well.
As we had learnt in the end credits of the
last film in this franchise, Dominic Toretto’s (Vin Diesel) former girlfriend
Letty Ortiz (Michelle Rodriguez), presumably dead, turns out to be alive. In
this film, we learn that she has lost all her memory and is now a part of Owen
Shaw’s (Luke Ewans) gang.
Owen Shaw, a former British Special Forces
soldier, now leads a deadly gang which is causing much trouble for Diplomatic
Security Service (DSS) agent Luke Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson).
Hobbs convinces Toretto to join this
mission of nabbing Shaw and his gang, by letting him know that Letty’s still
alive. Toretto convinces his now-retired friends to take part in this mission
and so, they begin their quest to get Letty back.
Although the premise of the film is quite
promising, the screenplay is just not gripping enough. There are a couple 7-8
minute car-chase sequences, which really begin to test your patience, as you’ve
seen them all before. The action is ridiculously over-the-top (Yes, even for a
‘Fast & Furious’). There’s a scene in which Toretto gets catapulted at
least 40-50 metres from his car and he manages to get hold of Letty, who gets
thrown out of a speeding vehicle (a TANK, for God’s sake!), mid-air! Of course,
both of them conveniently fall atop a bonnet of another car and end up
absolutely bruise-free. Such moments were hilarious, rather than thrilling. The
one thing that you always look forward to in such a film, which is the
soundtrack, also turned out to be a dampener. The movie falls short on all
counts. The only saving grace was the final scene, which is the prelude to the
next film. There’s a big surprise in store, but it’s too little and too late.
Not worth sitting through two hours of the film itself, certainly!
Avoid the film. You’ve seen it all before.