FILM REVIEW OF ''FAST FIVE" (2011)

As the fourth sequel in "The Fast and the Furious" franchise, "Five Fast" (***1/2 out of ****) combines elements of a Tom Cruise "Mission Impossible" epic as well as the George Clooney, Brad Pitt & Matt Damon "Ocean's Eleven" outings. Our high-octane protagonists have fled south to Rio de Janeiro. They plan to steal a fortune in cold cash from Brazil’s most dangerous man because he framed them for murder. Swift, swerving, snappy reflex driving constitutes an integral part of this careening carefree narrative. Mind you, the larger-than-life heist and the way our heroes not only prepare but also pull it off absorbs about half of the film’s brisk 130 minutes. Justin Lin and his three-time “Fast and Furious” collaborator scenarist Chris Morgan have raised the stakes again so they can top “Fast & Furious” and they’ve done a splendid job of topping the previous epic. When Dominic Toretto and Brian O‘Conner aren’t tangling with murderous Brazilian thugs, they must contend with an incorruptible good guy. Tenacious Federal agent Luke Hobbs (Dwayne ‘the Rock’ Johnson of “Doom“) vows to hunt them down and apprehend them and he never quits. Literally, our heroes are between a ‘Rock’ and a hard place!

“The Fast and the Furious” franchise has evolved over the last decade from illegal street racing done in conjunction with some crime. Initially, the speeders hijacked eighteen-wheelers for their loads. Since “Fast & Furious,” they have involved themselves in bigger crimes. The life & death heist here is as outlandish as it is audacious. Indeed, “Fast Five” surpasses “Fast & Furious” for no other reason than its final 30 minutes overshadows everything before it. No, Toretto and O’Connor couldn’t have gotten away with their ambitious scheme in real life any more than they could navigate those tunnels without accident in “Fast & Furious.” Nevertheless, Lin and Morgan make their strenuous efforts look like a lot of fun, something that the tunnel racing sequences lacked.

“Fast Five” opens where “Fast & Furious” ended. Dominic ‘Dom’ Toretto (Vin Diesel of “xXx”) has been sentenced to 25 years in Lompoc prison. Former FBI agent Paul O’Connor (Paul Walker of “Into the Blue”) and Dom’s sister Mia (Jordana Brewster of “Annapolis”) along with another driver wreck the prison bus in route so Dom can escape. Incredibly, nobody is hurt in the accident. The opening gambit in the previous movie “Fast & Furious” was so good it made the rest of it appear anti-climactic, but this isn’t the case in “Fast Five.” The idea of a convict escaping in a moving prison bus was done better in the Jean-Claude Van Damme escapade “Nowhere to Run.” Nevertheless, by not showing what actually happened when the bus flipped, the filmmakers probably saved a bundle on eliminating the aftermath of the crash. Make no mistake, Lin and Morgan top themselves in “Fast Five.”

Once O’Connor and Mia have Dom sprung, they are approached by Dom’s childhood friend Vince (Matt Schulze of “Blade 2”) about a railroad heist where they will steal some sports cars. This heist is more like the opening gambit in “Fast & Furious.” A wrecker cruises up alongside a train and the thieves cut an oblong hole in the freight car containing the vehicles. They propel the cars sideways out onto the wrecker’s ramp and then lower the ramp so the drivers can back down off it and peel away in a cloud of dust. Of course, nothing can go smoothly in a heist movie. Our heroes discover that the DEA have impounded the cars and their native gun-toting accomplices refuse to let the DEA thwart them. The Brazilian gunmen kill the DEA agents without a qualm, while our heroes are incriminated for the killings. Dom helps O’Connor get off the train, but Dom plummets his convertible into a river.

The Feds dispatch Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson of “Faster”) to capture Toretto and O’Connor. Meanwhile, Dom concocts an incredible plan to take over a $100-million from the man whose killers gunned down the DEA agents. In South America, crooked entrepreneur Hernan Reyes (Joaquim de Almedia of “Desperado”) rules the country. Reyes gets whatever he demands. Our heroes find a computer chip in a sports cars that contains a treasure-trove of information about all of Reye’s cash stashes. Dom urges them to pull ‘one last job’ and rob Reyes blind. Our protagonists assemble a racing team that includes O’Connor’s childhood friend Roman Pearce (Tyrese Gibson of “2 Fast 2 Furious”), Tej Parker (Chris 'Ludacris' Bridges of “2 Fast 2 Furious”), Han Lue (Sung Kang of “Tokyo Drift”), former Israeli intelligence agent Gisele Harabo (Gal Gadot of “Fast & Furious”), and a couple of others. Dom and company strike the first of Reye’s safe houses. Reye’s men watch in horror as our heroes burn the money. Immediately, Reye relocates his fortune to the downtown police station. He locks it up in a vault that can only be opened with his hand print. If you’ve seen the trailer for “Fast Five,” you know they steal the entire vault and then drag it like a wrecking ball through town so the finale looks like a demolition derby.

Ultimately, “Fast Five” is about having a good time. Again, the heroes are the underdogs, while the villains are thoroughly treacherous. The Rock shows up as a good guy caught in the middle. He is wants to capture our heroes because they are his quarry. Of course, the fast driving scenes thrive on adrenalin-pacing. The numerous gunfights, however, lack the spontaneity that somebody, like gifted British director Paul Greengrass brought to the last two “Bourne” thrillers and “Green Zone” with Matt Damon. Naturally, the Brazilian scenery is fabulous, and “Fast Five” serves as a travelogue when Lin and Morgan aren’t wrapping expository scenes about the heist around our ears. Like most energetic big, dumb action films, “Fast Five” packs several surprises that change everything and make you yearn for a fifth sequel. Be advised, don’t leave the theater until the entire end credits roll, you’re definitely in for a surprise. “Fast Five” reunites virtually everybody and then some who have survived all previous epics.

FILM REVIEW OF ''DEATH RACE 2" (2010)

"Pistol Whipped" director Roel Reiné's straight-to-video sequel "Death Race 2" serves as a prequel to Paul Wes Anderson's "Death Race." Consequently, although it bears the numeral 2 in its title, "Death Race 2" (**1/2 out of ****) is actually the first "Death Race." Reiné and "Chaos" scenarist Tony Giglio, working from a story by Paul W.S. Anderson and Giglio, establish the origins of this amoral auto carnage epic that takes place in a maximum security prison. Fans of the first "Death Race" will be gratified to know that Reiné and Giglio have made conscientious linkages to the theatrical 2008 Jason Statham actioneer by foreshadowing the presence of the future female warden of Terminal Island, Hennessey (Joan Allen), while both Frederick Koehler as Lists and Robin Shou as 14 K reprise their roles from the first film. Of course, director Roger Corman's ultra-low-budget futuristic thriller "Death Race," which co-starring both David Carradine and Sylvester Stallone from 1975, inspired the brawny Anderson remake and this direct-to-video release. Although it lacks the budget of its predecessor, "Death Race 2" ranks as an above-average epic that delivers enough careening thrills and vicious villains to distract you from the fact that it is a quickie fueled by the success of the first film. It doesn't hurt matters that Anderson and Giglio co-wrote the story and Giglio stuck around for this prequel/sequel. The cast is solid, with Luke Goss making a believable as well as sympathetic hero, while Sean Bean, Lauren Cohen, and Deobia Oparei make dastardly villains. They are the kind of bad people that you enjoy watching as they go down for their crimes. The other two big names, Ving Rhames and Danny Trejo occupy the sidelines and don't figure prominently in the hard-hitting action.

As "Death Race 2" opens, the following preamble appears: "In the future, the U.S. prison system reaches a breaking point. Private corporations take over all Federal Correctional Facilities. They are now run for profit. The Weyland Corporation is the new owner of Terminal Island Penitentiary." When we see the Terminal Island lock-up for the first time, a riot breaks out fueled by racial tension and it is broadcast on television. The action shifts to the heavily-guarded estate of crime boss Markus Kane (Sean Bean of "GoldenEye") who is paying off a wager to his long-term employee Carl 'Luke' Lucas (Luke Goss of "Charlie") while they discuss a bank heist that Kane's nephew Vinnie has brought to him. Kane treats Carl like a brother. He goes so far as to give him a money clip; according to Kane, the money clip was first thing that he bought when he immigrated to America. Afer they discuss the bank job, Kane present Carl with an aggressive looking Orange Ford Mustang that has undergone the Shelby conversion so it looks terrific. When Carl questions the concept of driving such a conspicuous car, Kane observes that the one who stand out the most are the least conspicuous. While the impromptu bank robbery is going down, Carl waits for Vinnie and company outside the bank. Carl spots trouble when two uniformed cops park in front of him and enter the building. The cops interrupt Vinnie and company in the middle of the hold-up, but Carl distracts them and ends up killing one. Afterward, Carl leads the cops on a careening auto chase, finally depositing Vinnie and his partner when he can safely do it before resuming his flight from a growing number of black and whites. Before he drops Vinnie off, Vinnie lobs several hand grenades into the on-coming police cruisers and flips them. Eventually, Carl winds up on a freeway that hasn't been completed and the authorities corner him. Presto, he winds up in Terminal Island. The district attorney makes Carl and talk and walk offer to inform on the notorious Markus Kane. Our honorable protagonist refuses to rat out his boss. Meanwhile, a paranoid Kane decides that he cannot trust Carl now that he is an inmate because prison exerts changes on a man over which he has no control.

Initially, the Weyland Corporation begins broadcasting pay-per-view gladiatorial showdowns dubbed 'Death Matches' between two prisoners who fight to the death or submission so the corporation can net high ratings. During these matches, the prisoners are provided with opportunities to arm themselves with weapons if they step on shields that allow them to appropriate those weapons. Virtually, every one of Weyland's businesses is floundering, except his pay-per-view competitions on Terminal Island. When these broadcasts fail to yield consistently high ratings, unscrupulous Weyland Corporation employee September Jones comes up with an idea for the races. September Jones is an interesting character. She is a beautiful woman who won the Miss Universe beauty pageant title, but she lost it when she was accused of having used her charms on all five judges. The corporate head (Ving Rhames) modifies Jones' proposal so that any convict—no matter how reprehensible--who wins five races will have their sentence commuted. Goldberg (Danny Trejo of "Machete") serves as Carl pit team crew chief. Goldberg—a Mexican Jew—is assisted by Lists (Frederick Koehler) and Rocco (Joe Vaz of "10,000 B.C."). Jones assembles the convicts and explains that there are only nine cars and everybody scrambles to acquire a ride. What they don't know and what neither Reiné nor Giglio do an adequate job of explaining is how the woman wind up acting as the riders with the drivers.

Carl winds up driving a 5-speed manual Fifth-generation Ford Mustang, armed with dual M134 Miniguns for offense, and a smoke screen, napalm, and oil slick for defense,[6] as well as a 6-inch-thick (150 mm) detachable steel plate on the rear bumper called 'The Tombstone.' Triad driver 14 K (Robin Shou) commandeers a Porsche 911. This is five-speed manual vehicle with a stock 2.7L six-cylinder engine, enforced with dual World War II German MG-42 belt-fed general purpose machine guns, four hood-mounted missiles, and four missiles on the roof. The worst convict of them all, African-American prisoner Big Bill (Deobia Oparei)steers a 5-speed automatic truck with a 5.7L V8 Hemi engine, armed with a cowcatcher, four hood-mounted Browning M1919s, two side-mounted Vulcan cannons, and Russian RPG-7s. At one point, Bill blows up his own pit crew. Xander Grady drives a Buick Riviera turbo three-speed automatic with a 430C.I. V8 engine. Grady’s Riviera is enforced with German MG-34s, Uzis, and PPSH-41 submachine guns. Hill Billy drives a four-speed, BMW automatic with a six-cylinder engine, built out of bullet-resistant steel. The rest of the competitors drive equally elaborate vehicles with an arsenal of weapons.

Reiné manages to keep the muscular action snapping along at a breakneck pace with minimal nudity and profanity. All of the villains richly deserve the demises that they get and "Death Race 2" ends just as our hero is converted into the metal mask wearing adversary. The screenplay contains more nuance that this kind of exploitation nonsense usually boasts, especially in the rivalry between the Triad inmate and a white supremacist. Luke Goss resembles Jason Statham with his shaved head and muscular pared down physique. Oddly enough, Danny Trejo is given nothing brutal to do; he stands around and makes jokes about being the last Mexican Jew. Compared to most straight-to-video sequels, "Death Race 2" is worth watching.