Fast & Furious 6

The summer season is really revving up, and in the case of "Fast & Furious 6", I mean this quite literally. Before the original "The Fast and the Furious" was released, if anyone had told me then that there would eventually be a number 6, and become a full-fledged franchise, I would've said they were nuts. But I keep forgetting about that 18-24 year-old single male demographic that keeps these films churned out every other year.

Since Dom (Vin Diesel) and Brian's (Paul Walker) Rio heist toppled a kingpin's empire and left their crew with $100 million, our heroes have scattered across the globe. But their inability to return home and living forever on the lam have left their lives incomplete. Meanwhile, Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) has been tracking an organization of lethally skilled mercenary drivers across 12 countries, whose mastermind, Shaw (Luke Evans) is aided by a ruthless second-in-command revealed to be the love Dom thought was dead, Letty (Michelle Rodriguez). The only way to stop the criminal outfit is to outmatch them at street level, so Hobbs asks Dom to assemble his elite team in London. Payment for duties rendered? Full pardons for all of them so they can return home to L.A. and make their families whole again.

Others to round out the cast are Jordana Brewster as Mia, Tyrese Gibson as Roman, Sung Kang as Han, Gal Gadot as Gisele, Chris 'Ludacris' Bridges as Tej, Elsa Pataky as Elena, Gina Carano as Riley, Clara Paget as Vegh, Kim Kold as Klaus, and Johannes Taslim as Jah.

This was well paced by the incomparable Justin Lin ("Shopping for Fangs" '97, "Better Luck Tomorrow" '02, "Annapolis" '06, "The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift" '06, "Finishing the Game: The Search for a New Bruce Lee" '07, "Fast & Furious" '09, "Fast Five" '11). No doubt this guy could do this franchise justice, considering this is his bout in the director's chair in 4 out of 6 of these films. And, suffice it to say, this one again leaves it opened ended, meaning that we will undoubtedly see another installation in a couple of summers down the road depending on the box office. Ca-Ching! Considering there has been 6 films in a franchise that is as fluffy as cotton candy, this was still written with enough substance to keep one's eyes peeled by Chris Morgan based on characters created by Gary Scott Thompson. But, at the end of the day, the real heroes are the stunt coordinators, both Greg Powell and Spiro Razatos, and Fight Choreographer, Olivier Schneider. Between these guys' amazing stunts, the incredible editing, cinematography, and sound design, this film really kept you on the edge of your seat, all being presented in IMAX.

I not sure why I've given such high marks on the last couple of films within this franchise--could it be that I'm male, gullible to a fault, a sucker for visuals, or is this film a better film that I or most people might find dumb and non-entertaining. You be the judge.

Out of 4 Stars: 3                         Rated: PG-13                      130mins.