Discussion: So Fast Five is Actually Good?

It isn’t often that the fifth film in a series is well received by a far amount of respectable critics. It is even less often when that series is at best a popcorn movie geared towards adolescent boys, street racers, and the six or seven fans of Paul Walker. But shockingly, I’ve heard a lot of buzz about Fast Five and that … well, it is actually pretty good. As in currently holding as 79% rating on Rotten Tomatoes good.

Admittedly, this may be a bit premature as currently there are only a few dozen reviews tallied up. But considering the harsh critical reaction to the previous four movies (52%, 36%, 35%, and 27% respectively), it looks pretty safe that Fast Five could end up on the “fresh” side of the fence. But why?

I did not see the third or fourth movies strictly because they looked like car porn wrapped around a poor excuse for a plot with bad acting throughout. In fairness, the first two were as well. This film reportedly centers around the team including Vin Diesel and Walker who are battling “the man” as well as a drug dealer in Rio. It also adds The Rock (no, not Alcatraz) as the pursuing FBI agent and a shitload of action scenes with a gooey heist-y center.

Alas, the trailer below seems split between a real action movie and one filled with wall-to-wall car chases that would not appeal to me by itself. But, if this positive word of mouth keeps up, I may attempt one more time to forgive Walker for that damn Skulls movie.