TORONTO — Fans of the Fast and Furious franchise are revving their engines for the sixth installment, which pulled into cinemas Friday.
Fast & Furious 6 stars Paul Walker, Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez and Jordana Brewster in the roles they originated in 2001’s The Fast and the Furious.
Critics seem to be happy to go on the thrill ride.
“The plot, though serviceable and boosted by humor, remains an excuse on which to hang breathtaking chases, meticulously choreographed hand-to-hand combat and the occasional explosion,” she wrote.
Postmedia News reviewer Katherine Monk cited the homo-eroticism of the flick.
“Oozing a dark, oily sexuality from every manly gasket, Fast & Furious 6 feels like a Gothic romance for gay men,” she said.
“Even the mere idea of Vin Diesel and Dwayne Johnson sharing the same frame is enough to make your biceps bulge with anticipation, but throw in a few extreme close-ups and some soft lighting as the blue smoke of burning rubber and overheated oil caresses the frame – and you’re cooking macho romance with high-octane gas.”
David Edelstein of Vulture said director Justin Lin has given the franchise “a surprisingly delicate touch.”
“It’s almost … feminine, at least if your definition of femininity is open enough to admit two women swivel-kicking each other to a pulp,” he wrote. “Lin also loves cars enough to make them look as if they’re subject to the laws of gravity rather than the logarithms of computer programmers. The driving in the film is a thing of beauty.”
At Collider, Matt Goldberg gushed that F&F6 is a machine “running close to peak performance” and praised the level of confidence evident on screen.
“The new movie struts into the room and proudly proclaims, ‘If we’re going to be goofy and loud, we’re going to be the goofiest, loudest movie we can be!’ It’s almost admirable in its own twisted way,” wrote Goldberg.
“Fast & Furious 6 succeeds because the machine is running at near-optimum efficiency: most of the characters are likable, the jokes are funny, the set pieces are mostly well-structured (the big finale takes place at night, and Lin has trouble switching between the five or six different things that are happening at once), it has the illusion of an emotional heart, and mostly importantly, it pulls the audience into a big, dumb hug.”
Claudia Puig of USA Today said the movie could easily have been dialogue-free “but the volume is a key element, especially for those who find the sound of revved-up engines evocative.”
She added: “The quips generally fall flat, and Diesel’s delivery is the worst. But he’s a brawny one, and that’s all that really counts, since the actors are more like action figures than humans.”
Does the movie appeal to those who may not be familiar with the first five movies?
The Associated Press reviewer Jocelyn Noveck said “newcomers will be a little confused as to who everyone is, since there is little explanation at this point, but fans will be glad to know their favourites are back.”
Among those fans is Betsy Sharkey of the Los Angeles Times.
“True, the movie doesn’t know when or how to put the brakes on. It does, however, understand precisely what it is. No pretensions to greatness, it demonstrates total dedication to ‘badassness,’ which I believe is the technical term,” Sharkey opined.
“What really sets F&F6 apart is the blinding speed with which it shifts between over-the-top action, that speedometer inching toward 800 mph at times, and soap opera emotions that bring everything to a screeching halt. It’s enough to give you whiplash … in a good way.”
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