Fast 5 was pretty radical (there's no other word for it) so at this point my sanity relies on them maintaining this course. Just keep doing what you're doing and we'll be fine.
The story so far...
The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift
And now for the second half of the last title.
Cast: Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Dwayne Johnson, Michelle Rodriquez, Jordana Brewster, Tyrese Gibson, Chris Bridges, Sung Kang, Gal Gadot, Luke Evans, Gina Carano
Plot: The heist crew are living idyllic lives around the world. Meanwhile, Hobbs is investigating a British special ops Major Shaw following an attack on a Russian convey. He convinces Toretto to bring his team in to help by revealing Letty is working for Shaw.
Review: They'd done everything right last time. Do what the James Bond franchise does. A colourful villain, a few exotic location and creative action scenes, but basically the same thing. Don't. Do. Anything. Stupid.
Oh Christ, what the fuck is this? She died! Is this like Han being retroactively fitted back in with an 'interquel'? Actually she's back because she didn't really die...she has amnesia. There's an amnesia sub-plot. Because I almost started to enjoy myself.
At least they kept the plot nice and generic so the films can focus on the action and comedy. We start with Toretto (Diesel) and O'Conner (Walker) living happy, sunshine filled lives with their special ladies and O'Conner's new kid. Shaw (Evans) is up to some bad stuff and they have to stop him and Letty (Rodriques) has amnesia. I'm not going to lie, I can't give you any details about why Shaw was bad or what his scheme was. The plot went in one ear and out the other.
What I do remember is the team using their street racing skills to stop a tank, which was awesome. There is an unintentional laugh when Toretto slingshots himself off a bridge to stage a rescue. This is quickly followed with an extended chase and fight sequence involving a giant cargo plane. As an attempt to one-up the vault sequence in the previous film this is pretty successful, as we keep cutting between the racers trying to harness the beast of an aircraft while Letty, Toretto and Hobbs (Johnson) fight Shaw, a human tank and Angel Dust (Carano) from Deadpool on board. This is a damn good piece of action however you cut it.
Again the biggest strength in the series has become the ensemble cast. All the expected players make a return, with Angel Dust being the most interesting new face even if she gets over shadowed by Letty's inexplicit return. Ultimately it's the women who get the short shift with Gisele (Gadot) on Red Shirt duty (I assume she had a more 'wonderful' opportunity come up). Mia (Bewster) and Neves (Pataky) get sidelined into decorations in the men's home life rather than take their usual spots amid the action.
The story is meh, the amnesia subplot is ridiculous and the story is forgettable, but is does everything else right.
