Fast & Furious 6 (5 Stars)

The Fast & Furious films keep getting better as they go along. The action is getting more exciting and more exaggerated. The last 40 minutes of this film are totally over the top. A car chase including a high speed tank? Another car chase on a motorway with a plane trying to take off while it's being attacked by cars? I can't say that these car/tank/plane chases are realistic, but they're exciting beyond words.

At the end of the last film Dominic Toretto, Brian O'Connor and the rest of their gang walked away with $100 million each. Now they've retired from their lives of crime, living comfortably in countries that have no extradition treaty with the USA. Brian is married to Dom's sister Mia, and they have a baby son together. So what can happen to pull them out of retirement?

There's been a series of thefts by criminals using high speed cars. DSS agent Hobbs approaches Dom and asks for his help in catching the criminals. Normally Dom wouldn't agree to help, but Hobbs tells him that his girlfriend Letty, presumed dead until now, is one of the criminal gang. Dom assembles a team to do the job, almost the same team that he worked with in the last film. The two guys are missing who could only speak Spanish. I don't miss them, I've forgotten their names already. Having less characters makes the film tighter and more exciting.

These six are easy to remember: Han, Tej, Gisele, Dom, Brian and Roman.

Hobbs promises a complete pardon to all the team members if they succeed in capturing lhe leader of the criminal gang, a mercenary called Owen Shaw. He's stealing the parts needed to assemble a device that can shut down the power of a whole country for 24 hours. Okay, let's suspend disbelief here. Assuming that such a device exists, why 24 hours? Why not a week or a month or indefinitely? And why are the components scattered at random places around the world, like Moscow, London and Spain? It's hardly feasible, but let's not argue about it. It makes a good story.

Letty was recruited for Shaw's team after losing her memory in the accident that almost killed her. I've never understood memory loss. Is it really possible to simply forget everything after getting knocked on the head?

There's only one car race in the film, a race through the busy streets of London at night. Its inclusion in the film seems artificial. It's a gratuitous car race to satisfy the regular viewers who've grown used to the races since the first film. However, it seems like the franchise is slowly drifting away from the illegal car race scene into standard action films. I'd say that the first four films were car race films, the fifth film was a transition, and the action films begin with the sixth film.

This film is nine years old, but I'll still avoid spoilers. Two members of Dom's team die, so they won't be appearing in the next film. Which two? You probably already know, but I'll keep my mouth shut.

I've already saw the seventh film in the cinema seven years ago, and I still remember how thrilling it was. I need to watch it again soon.

Success Rate:  + 2.9

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