Fast & Furious 6
Out of all the movies in this series, Fast & Furious 6 probably is the one I’ve seen the most. Although, that’s mostly unintentional. The TV channel FX plays a lot of movies throughout the day and on the weekends. They end up playing a lot of Marvel movies these days, but they show the Fast & Furious series a lot, as well. For some reason, this movie has been playing on the channel when I’ve flipped through looking for something to watch. I’ll end up watching it since there’s not much else on at the time. I usually end up catching it halfway through, then watching it to the end. I don’t feel like this skews my opinion of the movie that much. However, I wouldn’t choose this movie to be the one I end up watching more than the others.
Released in 2013, Fast & Furious 6 picks up several months after the events of the previous film. When a Russian military convoy is destroyed, DSS agents Luke Hobbs and Riley Hicks (Gina Carano) seek to take down the team responsible, a group of mercenaries led by former British SAS major Owen Shaw (Luke Evans) who are trying to steal high-tech equipment worth billions on the black market. To do this, Hobbs seeks help from Dom, Brian, and their crew. Hobbs tries to convince Dom to agree by showing that Letty, his former girlfriend, is alive and working for Shaw after being presumed dead. Eventually, Dom and the rest of the crew agree to help Hobbs on the conditions that they bring back Letty and their criminal records be wiped clean with full pardons. Bringing back Letty may be more difficult than expected given that she is suffering from amnesia.
As I mentioned in my review for Fast Five, it felt like the end of a story arc. If the series ended with that movie, it would’ve been a happy ending for everyone and the conclusion to their story. With Fast & Furious 6, you can tell the filmmakers wanted to kickstart a new storyline with these characters. This is evident with the opening credits alone. They are a montage of scenes from the previous films (except The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift), even including some shots from the short film Los Bandoleros. Additionally, the film brings back the majority of the cast from the previous film, with the exception of Leo and Santos. Even though people might say the series has overstayed its welcome, it’s clear that the filmmakers wanted to make something more than just big-budget action movies with fast cars. They wanted to tell a grand story and tie everything together so it makes sense, more or less.
Speaking of action, I like to say that Fast & Furious 6 is where Justin Lin and the rest of the filmmakers just said “Screw it!” and started putting whatever they wanted into the movie. They really start to tow the line between how much the audience is willing to accept with their suspension of disbelief. For example, one of the big spectacles is Owen Shaw and his team stealing and driving a tank down a major highway in Spain. In their attempts to stop Shaw, Brian and Roman manage to flip the tank using Roman’s car as a kind of anchor. As this is happening, Letty is outside the tank trying to cut the car loose. Dom sees this and launches himself through the air to save Letty and lands on a car windshield, saving them both. Clearly Dom just broke his back and possibly died. However, in the movie, Dom is completely fine. Yeah, right.
Of course, when talking about giant and unbelievable set pieces in this movie, I have to address the elephant in the room that is the climatic chase sequence. In it, we see Brian, Dom, and their crew chasing after Shaw and his team as they attempt to board a giant cargo plane. The entire sequence is supposed to take place on the runway of a military base. All of the cars are going at full speed for the entire 14-minute sequence to keep the plane from taking off. At most, typical runways aren’t any longer than 2.5 miles. With how fast everyone is driving and how long the scene lasts, the runway in this movie is roughly 26 miles long. I have to believe the they didn’t expect us to accept that this entire chase happened on a regular runway. Otherwise, they clearly don’t think too highly of the general audience. My buddy has watched this movie a few times. As an airplane mechanic himself, this scene really bothers him.
Even though these scenes really broaden the definition of reality, I feel like that’s kind of the point. Sure the series is starting to do the thing that most franchises do where they start going crazy with the stunts and set pieces, but that’s part of the charm. Some of the action scenes may garner more laughter than cheers, but it’s entertaining nonetheless. Seeing Dom fly through the air is way more exciting than seeing what would happen in reality. These absurd stunts aren’t the only exciting thing to see. There are plenty of one-on-one, as well as two-on-one, fights shown throughout. Obviously, the best one of these fights is Dom and Hobbs taking on Shaw and Klaus, Shaw’s enormous crew member. Everything is well paced, too. The action does allow for some slower portions to let the story progress, but nothing feels like it’s dragging more than it should.
At the same time, however, the constant flow between action set pieces is a major criticism I have with this movie and the rest of the franchise. For most of the movie, it feels like the plot moves from one action sequence to another. It’s as if the writers wrote the script as a series of stunts while filling in the gaps with actual plot and character interactions. Where most of the action in the previous films seemed to flow naturally from the rest of the plot, these action scenes are put in place with the rest of the plot finding a way to fit in. Of course, there still are some moments that provide some comic relief and callbacks to other films. My favorite is Brian breaking FBI agent Stasiak’s nose the same way he did in Fast & Furious, after which Stasiak exclaims, “Again?!”
With the majority of the previous cast returning, everyone is back in their element. All of the returning characters provide their unique brand of charm to their scenes. Most of them might just have their one-dimensional roles, but they suit their scenes and the rest of the movie well. Despite the movie focusing more on the action, it does start to establish some future character development. Most notably, Brian doesn’t feel totally at home with his new life as a father. Now that he and Mia have a son, Jack, he feels thrust into this new life without any warning. Dom even tells him when he goes in to see his son being born, “Remember, the second you go through those doors, everything changes. Our old life is done.” From this point on, you see Brian doing everything he can to protect his new family. Dom’s sentiment might be completely pointless with both of them forced back into their “old life”, but you can see where Brian doesn’t want to put his family in the harm it brings. In addition to Brian’s story, this movie finally establishes the story behind Han making it to Tokyo. They’ve been alluding to this for the past two films, mostly just by mentioning the city. Not only do Han and Gisele explicitly state that they want to settle down in Tokyo, there’s a mid-credits scene that takes place during the third movie. It’s a nice callback, as well as a setup for the next movie.
For as much grief as I’ve given this movie for it’s ridiculous action and minimal story, this is far from the worst in the series. Everything fits with the tone of the movie, the characters bring a lot of life to the story, and the music keeps everything exciting. A lot of the earlier movies felt like they constantly were trying to find their footing, and some of the later movies feel like they’ve gotten too big for their own good. Fast & Furious 6 does well with keeping the momentum going from the previous film. The filmmakers found where the series belongs and stayed there. Between the action, the characters, and the surprising heart felt throughout the story, this movie stands out among the rest of the series. It’s a great way to start a new storyline for the franchise.
