Fast and Furious Six - Coursework Example

Critical Film Review Movies have been produced with all kinds of themes and different techniques. Some producers have focused on historical aspects of life, others have centered on humor while others with the more improved thrillers of today, which incorporate extremely advanced technology (Finke 4). The Fast and the Furious film series is no exception to leaving out technology in its scenes. The film, with six installments, is a terrific movie, which is recommended to anyone who would want to see out-of-this-world stunts performed by cars. The paper will focus on the latest installation of the film, Fast & Furious 6, and give a critical review of the film. Fast & Furious 6 or Fast Six refers to a 2013 action film written and directed by Chris Morgan and Justin Lin respectively (Abrams 13). It stars Vin Diesel, Dwayne Johnson, Paul Walker, Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, Jordana Brewster, Chris Bridges, Luke Evans, Sung Kang, John Ortiz and Gina Carano. Where the last adventure-ride ended, this next one starts with the amazing Vin Diesel as Dominic Toretto and Paul Walker as Brian O’Conner, and the rest of their crew, having to team up with Dwayne Johnson, as agent Hobbs to stop a vastly equipped criminal group all in the hopes that they will be granted legal pardons to return to the United States and furthermore their neighborhood. The criminal unit was lead by a well known mastermind, Luke Evans, who had evaded the law enforcement in numerous accounts (Finke 4). In seemed unlikely that Toretto and his crew would be willing to assist agent Hobbs to capture one of the world’s most highly rated criminal mastermind because Toretto was also once among the top most wanted in Hobbs’ list (Abrams 13). However, to make matters worse, Hobbs had stunning information for Toretto claiming that his old-love, Michelle Rodriguez, who acted as Letty, was still alive even though we know that she clearly died in the fourth installation of the film. I was really amazed by this film. I was not a big admirer of the franchise, but as time move by, I began to grow fonder and fonder of what the film could do, if it only permitted itself to have more fun and enjoyment, with reduced street-racing. For sure, there is still unlawful street-racing taking place and whatnot, but there is more to this film than what meets the eye. We have guns shooting, brawls, beautiful females, property being destroyed and, now, even military tanks (Schrader 13). To declare that this franchise has unquestionably enhanced would be an understatement, but to argue that its notion of transforming itself up a bit, growing with the times, and offering itself more thrill than in the past is just about the perfect answer. This is because the film is amazingly stunning. It is sad that Justin Lin (the director) will not be returning for the seventh installment of the film because he honestly seems like the perfect person for such films (Abrams 13). Not only does the director appear to take pleasure from being around all of these amazing characters and seeing them play around with one another, but he also cherishes the whole idea of destroying property, and playing with it. The director celebrates in material such as this, which might sound a bit distasteful in a way, but there is no need to worry since all of the excitement that he is having is effectively brought out onto the viewer and never leaves (Horn 16). Not even until the post-credits is off the screen. And this is just what a majority of today’s action movies offer, unabashedly fun. Of course the film is totally and utterly unrealistic with its exaggerated stunts, which appear not just to cheat gravity, but also lie about what a straight thinking being can and cannot do. However, unless a person is an over-speeder, who does not fear jumping off of things and dares put him/herself near death, then a person has to worry about seeing this film. This is because the stunts that are pulled in the film are extremely dangerous (Finke 4). However, if a person is just an ordinary, lax individual who likes to have fun, or seeing other individuals have fun, then this is the kind of film that you would want to watch repeatedly. Dominic's crew, with the assistance of agent Hobbs, investigates a Shaw associate who discloses Shaw's relation with Arturo Braga, a drug lord who was jailed by O’Conner. O’Conner returns to the U.S. as a prisoner for a day to gain access to Braga, who reveals how Letty survived the blast, which was considered to have killed her (Gilchrist 3). Shaw wanted to finish her off, but after realizing that she had lost amnesia, he took her in. Back in London, Dominic challenges Letty to a race, and after that, he returns her necklace, which he had kept. Shaw's next attack on a NATO base, in Spain, is tracked by Tej (Finke 4). Shaw’s crew hijacks a military convoy conveying a computer chip in order to complete the Nightshade device. What happened next went down to be considered as one of the best fighting ever to be seen on television incorporating vehicles. Dominic's group intercedes, damaging the convoy, while Shaw, together with Letty, commandeers a military tank and starts destroying cars along the freeway. Roman and O’Conner manage to stop the tank by making it flip and Letty is thrown off the tank. Dominic, however, risks his life and manages to save her from dropping to her death. Shaw and his crew are detained, but he discloses that he has kidnapped Mia, O’Conner’s wife. Hobbs is forced to free Shaw, and Riley, agent Hobbs’ assistance, (revealed to be Shaw’s associate) leaves with him. Letty, on the other hand, opts to stay with Toretto (Schrader 13). Shaw's crew boards a huge aircraft in motion on an airstrip as Toretto’s men give chase. Dominic, Brian, Letty and Hobbs, manage to board the plane; O’Conner rescues Mia and they drive out of the plane using a car onboard (Abrams 13). The aircraft tries to take off, but due to Han, Roman, Gisele, Tej, Mia and Brian, tethering of the plane using their vehicles, it fails to take off. Gisele, Han’s girlfriend, sacrifices her life to save him from one of Shaw's henchmen. Letty, however, kills Riley and flees with Hobbs to safety. Dominic remains behind to pursue Shaw, as well as the chip (Horn 16). Shaw is thrown off the plane as it crashes into the ground, but Toretto drives one of the remaining vehicles through the nose of the burning plane and rejoins with his crew giving the computer chip to agent Hobbs to secure their official pardon. The film incorporates a lot of themes such fighting evil with evil, the importance of family, team work and the significance of having a home among others (Abrams 13). With regards to fighting evil with evil, in the past installments of the film, Toretto and his crew were always the villains of the film. O’Conner was, however, a police officer who was undercover in the first four installments, but he later decided to join Toretto since he also cherished the life of fast cars. The police force had tried to stop Toretto and his crew in numerous accounts, but had failed. I remember in The Fast and The Furious, the first installment of the film, Toretto and his crew used to rob trucks ferrying car stereos in order to install them in their vehicles. In 2 Fast 2 Furious, the second installment of the film, ex-police officer, Brian O'Conner, groups up with his friend, also an ex-con, Roman Pearce and works secretly with United States Customs Service representative Monica Fuentes to bring Carter Verone, a Miami-based drug lord, down. Tokyo Drift, the third installment of the series was shot in Tokyo. Toretto was the only member of the previous cast to future in this installment (Schrader 13). However, the main cast was involved in a lot of illegal street racing. Fast & Furious, the fourth installment of the series showcases Toretto, with the assistance of O’Conner, trying to bring down Braga for causing the alleged death of Letty. Fast Five, the fifth installment of the film, as the name suggests, follows Toretto, O'Conner and Mia as they organize a heist to steal US$ 100 million from a fraudulent businessman, Hernan Reyes, and, at the same time as, being pursued for arrest by agent Luke Hobbs from the U.S. Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) (Schrader 13). Agent Hobbs’ pursuit of Toretto was unsuccessful as they managed to escape with the US$ 100 million to abroad nations. However, in the sixth installment of the film, Hobbs manages to locate Toretto in Canary Island where he conceived him to help him take down Shaw and Toretto’s team will be granted pardons to go back to the United States. The notion of fighting evil with evil came to play in this film and Toretto managed to stop Shaw (Horn 16). Only a criminal mastermind would be able to capture Shaw since they reasoned in a similar way. Also, throughout the film, we could see that it was all about family. Toretto’s crew did all they could to protect one another and also fight for their own to reunite with them, Letty, while hoping that the government would not turn their backs on them once they helped them stop Shaw (Abrams 13). Toretto did not take threats towards his friends lightly and promised that whoever would hurt anyone of them would pay for it (Finke 4). Every character in this film suits their role perfectly. Toretto and Hobbs, with their muscle-filled bodies, suit their protagonist roles. Both Toretto and Hobbs are tough people who perform the main physical fights of the film against the villains. Toretto is considered to be a family guy since he always works to improve the lives of his friends calling them family (Abrams 13). He is also very protective as his avenged to anyone who threatened his sister Mia. For instance, the final fight between him and Shaw seemed like a vengeance to Shaw for kidnapping Mia and putting her life in danger (Gilchrist 3). Also, Toretto, unlike other bad people in most films, considered the safety of the public in his endeavors. He made sure that even though his stunts were harmful, they did not harm the public. What Toretto did automatically translated to his crew; hence, the unit considered the safety of the public. Hobbs, unlike Toretto and his crew, was a lawful person. Furthermore, he was a law enforcement officer under the DSS unit. At first, it seemed unrealistic for a police officer to ask the assistance of a criminal who was at the top of his most wanted list, but what we witnessed from the combination of the two was priceless. Hobbs is a person who keeps his promise since Toretto’s unit was finally granted their pardons when they took down Shaw and his unit (Gilchrist 3). O’Conner, in the film, appear to be the perfect associate of Toretto having worked his way out of the police force to gain the trust of Toretto. The film did well to incorporate well-known television stars such as famous musicians like Ludacris, Tyrese and Rita Ora. A person just cannot get enough of the amazing combination of these people. The roles adapted by Ludacris and Tyrese are completely different from what they familiarized ourselves with about them. The two, commonly seen as “bad boys” or “gangstas” in the normal media, incorporate a lot of comedy in this film constantly making fun of each other. In addition, Ludacris, who acted as Tej, was seen to be a very down to earth person unlike what we witness in his music videos. This is was absolutely amazing. The setting of the film took place in Canary Island, Los Angeles, Glasgow and Tokyo (Abrams 13). Tokyo was the last setting of the film where the famous known action movie star, Jason Statham, claimed to be Shaw’s brother, appeared out of the blues and took down Han, a member of Toretto’s crew. The film ended with Statham ringing Toretto and telling him that he does not know him, but he is about to. This clearly shows that Jason will star as a villain in the seventh installment of the film to avenge the death of his brother against Toretto set to be released next year on July the 7th (Gilchrist 3). This film portrays their hard working working-class people of the society who worked their way to the top using illegal means. The good thing about it is that, while Toretto and his crew were the villains, they tried their best not to harm the public. For the people who find these series as immature and unrealistic as ever, may be a bit amazed with what they observe in Fast & Furious 6 since it keeps the energy going at a fine pace, devoid of ever diving into melodramatic-theatrics, which do not matter. It is simply a fun ride from the beginning to end, and hardly ever does one lose interest, no matter how intelligent or unintelligent you are. Works Cited Abrams, Rachel. "Pain in Spain may hit Hollywood". Variety Reed Business Information 3.2 (2013): 23. Print. Finke, Nikki. “Fast 6”. Film Journal International 9.5 (2013): 3-6. Gilchrist, Todd. “Fast Six' Director Justin Lin: I Already Have A 12-Minute Sequence Done”. Bright Lights Film Journal 45.2 (2012): 3. Print. Horn, John. “All About Big Movie Stars: The Fast and The Furious Series”. Las Vegas Review-Journal 2.6 (2013): 15-17. Print. Schrader, Chris. “Producer Neal Moritz on Fast Five, More Sequels, and the Fight Scene Between Vin Diesel and Dwayne Johnson”. Film Quarterly 23.6 (2013): 13. Read More