Fast & Furious: Fast Five review

Story: Before ex-con and ace racer Dom Toretto (Vin Diesel) can be sent to prison, he is rescued by his sister Mia (Jordana Brewster) and her boyfriend, ex-cop Brian O'Conner (Paul Walker) and whisked off to Rio de Janeiro. But before the family can begin a new life, they must pull off a last heist and race unto hell once again. Needless to say, the ride gets rough, with dogged cop Luke Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) in hot pursuit. 

Movie Review: The franchise which began on a high note with Fast and Furious and then went off course with the last two sequels (Tokyo Drift, 2 Fast 2 Furious) seems to be back on track in it's fifth version. And there are three reasons why this one works so well. 

First, the film has been shot against the picturesque backdrop of Rio, with most of the planning by the glitzy gang being done in the dingy, overcrowded favelas (slums) of the sprawling city. The shoot-outs and the brazen chases are a treat to watch as Diesel and his gang leapfrog across the tenement skyline in gravity-defying splendour. 

Secondly, the film has two action giants pitted against each other, which means you are going to get total value for money in the kick-butt department. As if Vin Diesel's bald and brawny machismo wasn't enough, there's hard-rockDwayne Johnson standing tall as his worthy opponent. The eye-ball to eye-ball confrontations and the gritty physical encounters between the two are the stuff dream AXN cuts are made of. Add to this all that guy bonding between the two (they end up as frenemies) and you have a cops-and-robbers duo that grabs eyeballs from their very first encounter. 

And finally, the Fast and Furious franchise works only when its cars revv up furiously and the daredevils drive off to hell....There are enough brazen races here to send your testosterone into a tizzy and keep you glued to your seats, seat belts on. Yes, these guys can do anything with their cars and the cars are archetypal dream machines. Keep guessing the names and go gung-ho on the vroom quotient