The Movie
Picking up immediately after the events of the previous installment, Fast & Furious, Fast Five sets escaped convict Dom (Vin Diesel), sister Mia (Jordana Brewster) and former lawman Brian (Paul Walker) on the run down in Rio de Janiero. Times are tough when you're an international fugitive and so they take on a dangerous new job--involving the illegal procurement of some automobiles, go figure--which goes horribly wrong. Before they know it, American feds (headed by Dwayne Johnson) and a Brazilian drug lord are on their trail. The trio dreams of starting over, and the key is the $100M in cash inside the kingpin's impenetrable vault... tucked safely within police headquarters! This will be their biggest heist yet, and so they put together an all-star team of fast-driving crooks.
A logo with a giant peach during the end credits reveals that this movie was shot in Georgia, but I would have guessed Iowa from the sheer quantity of corn on display. The plot and characters are formulaic by Movie Number Five, although I suppose we do need those recurring contrivances to put these folks behind the wheel. The story is downright sublime however when compared to the dialogue, but it was the blatantly impossible physics of the vault job that made much of the final act so difficult to watch in the proper spirit. But like I said, they drive real fast, and often, both in the theatrical and barely-longer Unrated cuts.
While you're here, flip it in reverse and check out Beth McCabe's review of Fast Five.
The Picture
The 2.35:1 image was captured on 35mm film, showing here modest noise and film grain. Colors are deliberately manipulated to moody effect, while detail is generally strong. What troubles me is the harsh quality of the blacks, which have their moments but are more often oppressive and without nuance. Check out the scene at 50:37 where a black-shirted Tyrese Gibson is eating in a shadowy restaurant and you'll see what I mean. Thank goodness Vin and Dwayne shave their domes, they at least cast clean outlines against their respective backgrounds.
The Sound
Hang on for action, action and more action in this DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track, with plenty of shootouts--bullets and beyond--and foot chases as well as the expected 360-degree roar of bass-heavy engines. The simple but appropriate musical scores weaves in and out with the necessary verve. There's an odd quiver in the music at 58:47, I'll give 'em the benefit of the doubt and say that's how it was composed/recorded/produced, but could anyone who hears it post their opinions to the comments section below?
The Extras
Returning director Justin Lin talks us up during his audio commentary, and pops up quite a bit during the collection of HD featurettes that takes us inside the characters, the latest plot twists and the production. There are also a lean minute-and-a-half of deleted scenes and an array of decidedly uncensored bloopers.
The pocket BLU control/content app now supports a "Second Screen" feature similar to what Disney has been offering on a handful of their recent releases, allowing a supported portable device to display behind-the-scenes info and car trivia synched to the movie as it plays unfettered on the big screen. This is in addition to two levels of Bonus View enhancement and BD-Live support. The package also includes a DVD of Fast Five and a unique online code to download a Digital Copy for iTunes, Windows Media or Android.
Final Thoughts
One of the benefits of being "fast" is that we don't have too long to dwell on what just happened, rather it's on to the next nail-biting hairpin turn or lip-biting line of dialogue. If you don't ask too much of your car chase movies, then dumb down and buckle up for this solid Blu-ray sequel.
Product Details
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