Cast: Vin Diesel, Dwayne Johnson, Paul Walker, Michelle
Rodriguez, Luke Evans, Tyrese Gibson, Ludacris, Jordana
Brewster, Gina Carano
Direction: Justin Lin
Genre: Action
Duration: 2 hours 11 minutes
STORY: Dom (Diesel) and Brian (Walker) are in Rio, living it up after bringing down a drug kingpin in the franchise’s previous instalment. They’ve left crime behind, only to be drawn back by the promise of finding alive a loved one (Rodriguez as Letti) they’d thought was dead. But to get to her, they have to hit the streets again. This time, in London. MOVIE REVIEW: We catch up with Dom and his crew as they cool their heels after pulling off their ‘Rio Heist’ and bringing down Braga. Dom has moved on but still pines for Letti.

Brian’s become a family man and father to a baby boy. Agent Hobbs (Johnson) offers a deal: find and bring Owen Shaw, a mercenary trained in vehicular warfare, to justice in return for information on Dom’s thought-dead love and grudgingly, full pardons for his crew, so they can return home to the US. As they embark on a mission for their own purposes, the “family” of speed demons soon finds themselves up against Shaw, an enemy that’s “in the game” and relies solely on “precision and planning” to carry out their assignments.

Letti has lost her memory and we see her become a pawn in Shaw’s game for most of the film. Is the family reunited again? Clocking in at over two hours, the film is filled with all the high-octane speed chases and close combat scenes we’ve come to expect from the franchise. And while it doesn’t disappoint in the outrageously and shamelessly fun bang-em-cars, road rage and the cheesy humour departments, it does drag by taking “detours” and selfdiscovery trip subplots that could easily have been done without.

Lin’s at the helm for the fourth time and the confidence (and over-indulgence, thereof) shows. The girl-on-girl fight scenes are actually more kick-ass than the ones with the guys. Of the supporting cast, Ludacris has the best lines. The new characters impress. That being said, this one’s purely for fans of the franchise and action junkies alike.