“*peeks out from around the corner* Hello? Anybody still here?
Hola internets. After slacking off while directing Spelling Bee, I am now back, bitches! In short, the show was a ton of fun all around for all involved. The audience loved it. We got a fantastic review in MIT’s paper The Tech. Overall, win!
While I had been seeing movies here and there, I’d decided to be lazy and not blog the write ups, since I had very little me time as it was. So tonight, Im out of legit excuses to put it off, and so here we are. And Im actually really happy to be doing this write up for tonight’s flick, Fast Five.
Movies like this one remind me why I \m/ love action movies. Yes, I am an action junkie. It’s my fave genre. I think we’ve established this. Actually, if we wanna get technical about it, my fave genre would be action comedy, but it has to be heavier on the action. Okay maybe it is more accurate to say that my fave is action movies with good comedic relief. Starting to go off topic.
Now while Fast Five (or really anything in the Fast Franchise) is by no means a perfect film, the blend is pretty damn close. You’ve got: high velocity action, characters you care about, well timed wisecracks, beautiful cars driven by even more beautiful people. With a combination like that, who gives a \m/ if its not the type of film that’s ever gonna win an Oscar.
Let’s start getting into the specifics. Something that was particularly fun about this one, that’s a bit different from the rest in the franchise, is that this was actually more of a heist movie than an action movie. I do so love heist movies: the suspense of the chase, the genius of the plan, the morally gray areas. On the action side, I felt they could have had a bit more. However, all was redeemed with the final climactic car chase. That one was really creative, and different from any I’ve seen, and I’ve seen a \m/ of a lot of cinematic car chases!
Having seen all the movies in the franchise, the characters have really grown on me. I absolutely love Vin Diesel’s Dom. Such an amazing balance of bad ass and sweetheart. I swoon whenever he’s on the screen. Similar feelings for Paul Walker’s Brian, although his acting ability (if I dare even call it that) is still a bit lacking. It was also cool bringing in characters from all of the previous movies. However, I prolly shoulda done my homework beforehand and verified who was coming from where because it kept bothering me when I couldnt remember.
Also, bringing in Dwayne Johnson was a genius move. I mentioned before how happy I was to see him finally back in his element, and playing him off Vin Diesel was an incredibly smart casting decision And yes, there was a no holds barred, all out brawl between the two. It was seriously among the most satisfying fight scenes I’ve ever seen. Those boys are just built for this sh…sort of thing.
One final note. Be sure to stick around thru the end of the credits sequence. There’s an additional scene (before the full credits roll). I knew there’d been talk of a sixth movie, but the set up for it felt like a hard blow to the chest. I cant remember the last time I left the theater so anxious for the sequel. Okay, so maybe it was HP, but we knew that was coming. This was totally unexpected. While the movie had its flaws, the final chase and that end scene left me on such a high note, that it didnt matter.
Dont hate.
Fast Five – \m/ \m/ \m/ \m/