Writer: Thomas Ng Jun Tong

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Watch this if you liked: "Fast and the Furious" franchise, "Initial D", "Street Racer", "Point Break"

When the first "Fast and Furious" movie was released in 2001, it blew everyone's minds and made street racing look cool. Ten years and five movies later, we're still at it. The movie starts with ex-FBI agent Brian O'Conner (Paul Walker) and the gang, as they save Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) from the bus that's transporting him to prison. Heading to Rio with intent to lay low, the team then takes a job for cash; hijacking three cars from a moving train in the film's standout sequence. They get double-crossed by their Brazilian partners who are led by ruthless drug overlord Reyes (Joaquim de Almeida), and the gang find themselves falsely fingered for the murders of three US DEA agents on the train. Enter federal super-cop Luke Hobbs (Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson), who storms into Rio to take them down. But can he do it before Dom and his team pull off one last job before their NOS-free retirement?

Justin Lin has consecutively directed three films of the series including this one, so for "Fast and Furious 5", he assembles a dream team, calling in franchise favourites including Tej (Chris "Ludacris" Bridges), Roman (Tyrese Gibson), Han (Sung Kang) and Gisele (Gal Gadot) for an all-star reunion.

The action is obviously the highlight of the film as guns fire, fights break out and cars blast on full speed every other minute. There are a few funny moments with Roman delivering his one-liners at tensed situations the way only he can, and then there's the major tension between Dwayne Johnson and Vin Diesel, who's finally found his match. Paul Walker and Jordana Brewster are as one-dimensional as ever, even while harbouring a little secret that may see us lumbered with a future instalment.

Fans of prior instalments will be pleased to hear that "Fast and Furious 5" is probably the biggest and most over-the-top film in the franchise. It's not likely to win over many audience members who didn't see any of the earlier films, but for anyone who likes muscle cars, beautiful women and heist films; "Fast and Furious 5" delivers plenty of pulse-pounding moments. With that said, muscle car fans may feel a little cheated this round, since there's considerably less focus on racing, enhanced rides, and a much greater focus on 'the job' instead.

Muscle cars driven by pec-flexing guys watched by girls in hot pants, and you'd think the "Fast and the Furious" franchise would've run out of gas by now. Well, think again.

Cinema Online, 03 May 2011