Fast & Furious 6

I worked at a movie theater when 2 Fast 2 Furious came out in the summer of 2003. I saw the movie then, and the crowds of posers, wannabe car nuts, and silly dressed people that came out.  Then, it was all about the cars. Everything was new, had NOS, and had neon lights underneath the car. Neon Neon Neon.  Didn't that film take place in Miami? No wonder neon was everywhere.  I skipped the next film Tokyo Drift and came back when Paul Walker and Diesel returned with Fast & Furious.  That movie was alright, but I thought the series really took off with Fast Five. They brought in The Rock, and he was a great antagonist to our main heroes.  Plus, the scene involving the bank vault in the streets was phenomenal. Go check it if you haven't seen it.

So after the great Fast Five I had high hopes for this film.  It was by the same director as Five, Justin Lin, and the Rock was back. Plus, Liddy (Michelle Rodriguez) lives! In the end, Fast & Furious 6 doesn't live up to the hype.  No one goes to these films for the plot. Yes we have some relationship to the characters, but its mostly about the action.  What made the bank vault scene so great was that it was plausible. You can't really say that about any of the sequences Fast 6. Now, I know how to take movies less seriously, but since this isn't a superhero film or supernatural, it's hard not to apply the rules of physics to anything that happens.  A tank on the road? It wouldn't tear up the asphalt behind it? It would drive that fast? Probably not.  The jump across the bridges to catch Liddy? Maybe.  Pulling a plane down with a few cars and cables that weighs TONS? Not even close.

Fast and Furious 6 is only okay. It's not the best in the series. That belongs to Fast Five.

3 out of 5 Stars

Pain & Gain

Pain & Gain looks like a fun movie from Michael Bay.  It looks like it has humor and action.  Despite all the Miami sunlight, and the sheen of tanning oil, Pain & Gain is not a bright film. It's a dark tale. One that ultimately will disappoint.

Based on a true story of three knucklehead body builders who steal the money of one rich guy whom they are training, and then it all comes crashing down. Some of the things that happen in the film are absolutely true, some are beyond belief.  This movie is DARK. Its not an action comedy, its a dark crime movie that tries to be humorous.  Often it does not succeed.  The performances here by Mark Wahlberg, The Rock, and Anthony Mackie are all fine. But there are no real stand outs.  Some reviewers said that The Rock's performance was good, sometimes revelatory, but in reality it's just the Rock playing a goof, which he did in Be Cool, and that wasn't great either.  What ultimately brings the film down is the stark contrast between it's dark story and sunny cinematography. They never really match up.  If Pain & Gain does anything, it shows that Michael Bay has more range in directing than just the Transformers films.

2 out of 5 Stars

Snitch

Snitch is one of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson's smaller films. This is not Fast and Furious, G.I. Joe, The Mummy, etc etc.  Unlike those other films, this is not an ensemble picture. It's all Rock, all the time.  I know it says Dwayne Johnson on the poster, but he'll still be The Rock for me.  As a film, it's not bad, but it is not going to break out the Rock as a stand-alone star either.

Snitch is "inspired by actual events" where Dwayne's son gets arrested for signing for a package of drugs that got sent to him without his permission.  His son now faces the mandatory minimums sentence for his crimes. Dwayne convinces the U.S. Attorney to let him "snitch" to make arrests on his son's behalf. Except that Dwayne has no connections.  Jon Bernthal enters here as one of Dwayne's employees who has a past in the drug game.  He makes introductions to the lowlifes working the street (Hi Omar from The Wire!).  Things escalate from here when the DEA wants to grab the big Mexican cartel guy (Benjamin Bratt) instead of the lowlifes.

Snitch is a pretty good film.  Dwayne and Jon Bernthal are really likable actors, so their performances keep your attention.  The biggest detractor for this film is that there is nothing here to make it stand out from Dwayne's larger franchise films.  There's no large acting twist for Dwayne to advertise, no large action sequence to compete with the other films, etc.  Its just Dwayne doing his normal thing, making a decent movie.  All in all, that is what Snitch is, a decent, likable film that won't stand out from the other things on the shelf.

3 out of 5 stars

Trailer