Yesterday I had the opportunity to see a special screener of Fast & the Furious Six. This was on my list of movies that were Must See this summer, so I had high expectations after Fast Five was the best of the franchise. So I give you the Good, the Bad & the Ugly of Fast & Furious 6.

The premise of the movie was based around Letty Ortiz (Rodriguez) who the crew thought was dead. Hobbs (Johnson) shows up with photos of her at Toretto’s (Diesel) doorstep. So he gets the crew together to get the member of the family back together. In order to get her and their freedom they have to bring down former Special Ops solider Owen Shaw (Evan).

The Good –

The Directing & Story – As you saw from the trailer this was going to bring the most outlandish explosive scenes we have seen yet from this franchise. Boy they didn’t let down one bit, whether it was seeing Shaw go down the interstate in a tank or seeing the crew bring down a plane. The cars, the woman, the action, the stunts & the fight scenes were all there in this movie. Justin Lin brought it to the table in this movie, with a non-stop thrill ride that left you on the edge of your seat. Lin who doesn’t look to be directing the 7^th installment of the franchise went out with a bang in my opinion. He really brought in a new story that worked honestly. It was a nice build that lead to some great scenes amongst the cast.

The Fight scenes – I am not sure anything could top the fight scenes between Hobbs & Toretto in the last film but they came close. The fight scene between Han, Roman & Jah was classic, Jah just whooped both of these guys asses after taking out some cops in a subway. The 1^st and 2^nd battle between Letty & Riley (Gina Carano) were great, Carano carried her weight in this film for sure. Paul Walkers fight scene in the prison added a nice touch to something you don’t see from him regularly. Then you had the final battle, Toretto, Hobbs, Shaw & Muscleman where we saw Toretto with a flying head butt and man that was awesome!!!!!!

The Stunts – They laid it all on the table for the stunts in this film. The car scenes were as good as ever and the new cars brought to the table were a nice touch as well. Even as crazy as it looked in the trailer the taking down of the plane was completely insane. I couldn’t believe it while watching it and still not sure I believe it. But that’s what makes this franchise good at what it does.

The Cast – Johnson has really brought this franchise full circle, when he came in on Fast Five he brought a new interesting approach to this film. I thought he made the film what it was and he didn’t stop in this one either. He brings an outside force that is practically unstoppable that has a level head that you don’t get with sometimes “close-minded” Toretto.

Diesel, Walker & the rest of the crew brought the regular old selves to the table in the film. They are made for these roles and perfect them with ease. The Tyrese and Ludacris banter back and forth will never get old honestly. They are the little highlights of the film that I think everyone enjoys.

The Return of Letty – The trailer I thought kind of gave away too much in this but in reality they fooled you on what really happened. Without spoiling it I really enjoyed the build to bringing her character full circle in the movie.

The Bad –

There was a bit of lack of character development in the “bad guys” of the movie. There was Shaw and kind of just everyone else (outside Letty).

The Ugly – None

The Verdict –

4.5 Out 5 Stars

This automatically jumps into my top 5 for 2013; the action in this movie was amazing. The fight scenes, the car chases & the unbelievable twist that keeps you on the edge of your seat. Even better was the after credits that set up Fast & Furious 7 for next summer. This movie joins Iron Man 3 as the must see action movies of the summer.