Fast Five review

Muscle cars driven by pec-flexing guys watched by girls in hotpants… you’d think the Fast And The Furious franchise would’ve run out of gas by now. Think again.

This latest instalment, beginning immediately where the previous episode left off, is like The Avengers for F&F fans. With disparate characters from past episodes recalled to duty, it’s like Dominic Torreto (Vin Diesel) says to now-pregnant sis Mia (Jordana Brewster): “The family just got bigger.”

Still, getting bigger is what this car-crunching franchise is all about – and on that score FF5 doesn’t disappoint. Forget FF4’s opening gas-tanker heist. Here, we’ve barely taken our seats before Mia and ex-cop boyfriend Brian (Paul Walker) have busted Dom out of the prison bus we last left him on.

Say what you like about director Justin Lin’s lack of subtlety (or understanding of the laws of physics), but he knows how to kick-start an action movie.