Fast Five

12, 2011, Directed by Justin Lin
Starring: Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, Tyrese Gibson

Picking up immediately where Fast and Furious left off, it’s clear that Justin Lin has evolved this franchise into becoming two things: one - an out-and-out action romp that respects its characters as much as cars, and two - something to get excited about. With Paul Walker’s O’Conner and Jordana Brewster’s Mia hot on the pursuit of the prison van escorting Vin Diesel’s Dominic Toretto to lock-up, they free him and head to Rio de Janeiro as fugitives where they set to planning a heist to steal $100,000 from a corrupt businessman. An obstacle arrives in the form of a dropped Rock as Dwayne Johnson stars as Luke Hobbs, a boulder of a US agent who has his sights squarely aimed at Toretto. Spewing laugh-out-loud lines with tongue-in-cheek tact, Johnson is an insanely-welcome addition to the ever-growing cast, which sees the return of series favourite’s Roman Pearce (Tyrese Gibson), Tej (Chris ‘Ludacris’ Bridges), Han (Sung Kang) and Giselle (Gal Gadot), all whom lend a hand to earn a cut of the money.

Perhaps overlong, this can be forgiven for providing audiences with a scene that could vie for the series' best; a car-chase on a speeding highway  which features a car dragging along a destructive bank vault behind it, knocking out buildings and pursuing cars in the process. The decision to evolve the street-racing to high-octane car chase sequences amidst a heist is one that pays off.

And a post-credit sequence involving a few unexpected familiar faces fixes the wheels in motion for what's to come. A fifth film in a series has no right to be this fun.

3.5/5

 

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Fast and Furious

15, 2009, Directed by Justin Lin
Starring: Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Jordana Brewster, Michelle Rodriguez

Back in 2001, critics labelled Vin Diesel as the next big movie superstar, and despite flops xXx (2002) and The Pacifier (2005), the actor's return to the franchise which launched him (alongside Michelle Rodriguez, Jordana Brewster and, of course, Paul Walker) is warmly welcomed; it's a shame though that this reuniting slice of action is the weakest in the series.

With returning characters at the forefront of the action, Fast and Furious tzkes time to establish each characters standing; Diesel's Toretto and the 'family' - including Sung Kang's Han, imediately placing the film's chronology pre-Toky Drift, are still committing highway heists, whilst Walker's Brian O'Conner is inexplicably working for the FBI in LA. Despite a thrilling extended opening that reintroduces the team like they never left us, inputting slow-mo to heighten the thrills, Fast and Furious plays like an extended episode of a US soap. The over-arching plot involving heroin importer and cartel leader Arturo Braga (Jon Ortiz) proves pretty similar to previous story attempts, which isn't to say the many plot-twists all work (an early death shocks) and seeing the cast reunited lives up to whatever expectation there was.

The original's fresh foot-pumping street races are absent, replaced with more lazily-constructed efforts to exhilarate – perhaps best summed up by a street slalom where the characters are denied improvisation –due to the placement of a sat nav. But, that breathlessly-paced opener just about carries you throughout, and when lines are spoken such as ‘When the GPS calls, you follow”, it's hard not to be entertained. With fuel injected late on, Justin Lin ensures that once the climax zooms past, you’ll be drawn back into the mindless shenanigans of Toretto and co., and ready to take your seat for numero five.

2.5/5

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The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift

12, 2006, Directed by Justin Lin
Starring: Lucas Black, Sung Kang, Bow Wow, Nathalie Kelley

A franchise-resetter, the third instalment of The Fast and the Furious series axes all former characters and translates the action to Tokyo, where teenage American rebel Sean (Lucas Black, clearly in his twenties) embroils himself within the underground world of drift racing in Tokyo, locking heads with 'Drift King' Takashi in the process.

What feels like a straight-to-DVD attempt to keep the franchise burning soon elevates itself to ridiculously watchable fun as Sung Kang's potato chip muncher Han takes Luke under his wing, handing him shiny new cars, and teaching him how to professionally drift. Merge this with Kill Bill's Sonny Chiba waltzing onto the screen as Takashi's high-ranking Yakuza grandfather and you might actually find yourself enjoying something you probably never expected to.

A late-minute surprise cameo ties the seemingly-unrelated film to the rest of the franchise with fist-pumping success secures writing/directing duo Chris Morgan and Justin Lin as the guys responsible  for extending the film series' miles.

3/5

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The Fast and the Furious

15, 2001, Directed by Rob Cohen
Starring: Paul Walker, Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Jordana Brewster

It's somewhat a shock to consider that The Fast and the Furious raced onto cinema screens well over a decade ago - in the summer of 2001 - to impressively rave reviews. It's testament to Rob Cohen’s original that what has become a guaranteed bankable franchise has stood its ground amidst the insurgence of 3D and the moody superhero blockbuster. Upon retrospect, what The Fast and the Furious does so well is what every ensuing film in the series has done since; embraces its mindlessness in a winking manner. Whilst the original was aimed at thrill-seekers who love their cars shiny, fast and surrounded by scantily-clad women, in essence all it comes across as is Point Break - minus the bank-robbing surfers, but with added truck-robbing street racers.

First time around, the cast may not cause much to shout about. We've got Vin Diesel’s Dominic Toretto, the hulking silent leader of the street-racing ‘family’ which consists of Michelle Rodriguez’s Letty, Toretto’s sister Mia (Jordana Brewster) – and new addition Brian O’Conner (Paul Walker), whose loyalties are tested in ways you are meant to care about in between the frenetically-paced car race sequences. It has to be admitted though that although the cast haven't gone on to the illustrious careers expected of them (between them, flops range from xXx to Into the Blue), perhaps these were the characters they were born to play.

3/5

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Flight

15, Directed by Robert Zemeckis
Starring: Denzel Washington, Kelly Reilly, Don Cheadle, John Goodman   

 

After a slew of motion-capture animated offerings (The Polar Express, Beowulf, A Christmas Carol), Robert Zemeckis’ timely welcome return to the fold of live-action filmmaking – his first since 2000’s Cast Away – manifests itself in the form of Flight.  A boozy old-school character study, Denzel Washington is the sole focal point as (the strangely named) Whip Whittaker, an airline pilot who successfully crash lands a passenger jet. Whip’s nightmare begins once he regains consciousness however, as an investigation into the crash highlights the presence of alcohol in his bloodstream.  Considering the opening scene pits Whittaker guzzling beer and snorting cocaine through the night – and then bravely shows him boarding a passenger jet as its lead pilot, as casual as if he were working a 3-hour shift in the local supermarket – it is clear-cut our friend Whip has an addiction.

 Washington is as brilliant as always, giving a searing performance that takes John Gatins’ screenplay and positions audience members in a moral dilemma; this is a guy who is mindless to his problems...the same guy is also a hero. Washington pushes the boundaries as Whip, holding us in a headlock as he hurtles towards an unpredictable final act. If only the film could live up to his performance, instead he is forced to carry the weight of the suspect structure throughout. British actress Kelly Reilly is introduced in a disparate storyline early on, introducing us to her recovering junkie Nicole. When the characters collide in a scene not long after, you would be mistaken for assuming this story strand will culminate in adding something to the lengthy running time. Love interest? Plot filler? Neither; she is simply a mind-numbingly worthless addition and really bruises what potentially could have been a first-rate drama. A shame, considering the talent and promise Reilly evidently conducts. Intermittent appearances from the ever-welcome John Goodman are as welcome as ever, if slightly out of touch with the film surrounding them; he plays (the strangely named) Harling Mays, Whip's drug dealer pal, injecting a random bout of comedy to the whole thing - something Argo did so well, but Flight misplaces. 

The highs of Flight make the lows fall like crashes... the standout opening plane sequence, and the build-up to the climactic hearing Whip must attend proves that the clunky exposition has shrouded the decent stuff, with these particular scenes providing breathless action and impressive visuals; factors that help you remember why Zemeckis, the man behind the amazing Back to the Future trilogy, is up there with the elite. 

As it stands, this flight is a turbulent one.

 

3/5

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Friends with Benefits

2011, 15, Directed by Will Gluck
Starring: Justin Timberlake, Mila Kunis, Woody Harrelson, Patricia Clarkson

Natalie Portman made a pact with Ashton Kutcher early on in the year to have sex, as long as there were No String's Attached. Strangely, her Black Swan co-star finds herself in a similar predicament, only with Justin Timberlake. Here, we have a film truly based in the 21st century; not only does Friends with Benefits feature enough technical product placement to put You’ve Got Mail to shame, but asks the question: can two pals who decide to ‘play tennis’ between the sheets keep their emotions at bay? After impressing in The Social Network, Timberlake - surprisingly capable in a lead role and not afraid to make a fool of himself - teams up with sassy sweetheart Kunis to play Dylan and Jamie, the mates who put this to the test. Comedy ensues through the inevitably awkward circumstances the characters find themselves in and the comments by supporting players (Dylan tells his GQ workbuddy that Jamie is different to the other girls, to which he asks 'Does she have a penis where most girls have a vagina...? Then she's no different!'). The sex scenes themselves that seem more grounded in reality through the unflattering way in which they are filmed – a tough feat for a scene involving two desirable figures - are wittily played with help from the inclusion of previously mentioned aspects in the screenplay. One word: sneeze.

Will Gluck’s previous feature Easy A, which made a star out of Emma Stone (who politely cameos at the start as a John Mayer superfan), approached the rom-com in a fresh manner, the influence of 80s Brat Pack films apparent. The same is attempted in Friends with Benefits with postmodernist montage bluff sequences and self-referencing applied, as well as homages of the obvious: Annie Hall, When Harry Met Sally... . But, as the film reaches its final third, Timberlake and Kunis seemingly intentionally re-enact the cliches that the screenplay explicitly mocks earlier on in the film. Destructive? No. Cheeky? Most certainly, but the film does suffer for it; what once was credible becomes a cop out. Moreover, an unnecessary sub-plot involving Dylan's father (an always welcome Richrd Jenkins) is introduced and dealt with shoddily. There's plenty of fun to be had though, with laughs through the relatable insightful script and offbeat support (Woody Harrelson hilariously cast against type as a gay workmate of Dylan's at GQ), not to mention Kunis' assured dialogue delivery; her timing is spot on, and it seems she is finally blossoming into the superstar she deserves to be.

For the least awkward viewing experience, avoid watching with friends of the opposite sex.

3/5



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The Fighter

2010, 15, Directed by David O. Russell

Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Melissa Leo

You may think that a rags-to-riches tale of a boxer who doesn’t just fight for an occupation, but for life has been done before. You may even be correct. Rocky, Raging Bull, Million Dollar Baby; each film very different from the last but fundamentally similar (and all recognised by Oscar). It is a shock then that David O. Russell’s The Fighter, centering on Mark Wahlberg’s Micky Ward, is a welcome breath of fresh air. With Wahlberg, The Fighter finds its heart. He merges the perfect level of independence, whilst remaining a loyal family man; a refined individual, Ward has lived in the shadow of his brother Dicky his entire life. With Dicky, played to characterised Oscar-winning bliss by Christian Bale, the film finds its comedic, yet tragic route. A former boxing champion, the only hobby he dabbles in these days is snorting drugs. He is a mess, but underneath it all, a less independent, but loyal bloke, just like his brother. He hides behind the matriarch of the family, Melissa Leo’s Alice Ward. Loving to her offspring, vicious to intruders (which Micky’s girlfriend Charlene – a self-assured Amy Adams – soon realises), Leo delivers what could have been stereotypical, and steers it to memorable, and like Bale, award-winning status. Although O. Russell’s direction captures everything that is required, and in some cases a lot more (a pull-back sequence at the beginning of the film lingers in the memory), this is very much the performer’s film. Every cast member plays an ace here, Bale being the obvious standout (it’s impossible not to raise a smirk when he invites Sugar Ray Leonard, a cameo from the former opponent himself, for a ‘cold one’) – but his performance is complemented from the wholly understated one from Wahlberg. As the film’s heart, he provides the elements necessary for the success the film deserves, and in doing so propels the film to life.

4.5/5

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The Fountain

2007, 12, Directed by Darren Aronofsky

Starring: Hugh Jackman, Rachel Weisz, Ellen Burstyn, Mark Margolis

To retell the plot of The Fountain here would not spoil anything, but be insanely difficult. What is important to know is that this is clearly Darren Aronofsky on exploratory mind-bending form. For a film that spans over 1,000 years and flits back and forth in a manner as flippant as it wishes, The Fountain is clearly as ambitious as it is confusing. But this is the point. Once you can embrace this, the film becomes something – although frustrating – quite beautiful in its own way. It is exciting to observe something that can offer a scene fresh from a medieval feature, accompanied by an image laden with religious context and then a scene lifted from a character drama. The central performances from Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz (Aronosfky’s then-wife) assist in moulding this into engrossing stuff. Make no mistake, The Fountain is not for everyone - but it would have failed in its purpose if it was. You might think it a love/hate film – I did neither.

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