FAST & FURIOUS 6 [2013]

Director Justin Lin's 6th and final film in The Fast & The Furious franchise takes the family out of the exotic locations of before and lands them in the gritty land of England and tea & scones.
Sure, it's short on brains, character development and much of a storyline but that's not really what fans are here for.  It delivers by the meat-headed truckloads with vehicular carnage, bloody hand-to-hand combat, silly but good natured humor, insanely choreographed action sequences that go way over the top and...well...a tank.
With Lin stepping down and Insidious director James Wan stepping in for the next film, I can't wait, seeing as the post credits scene made me wet my pants with fanboy anticipation.

3 F&F family doppelgangers out of 5

BULLET TO THE HEAD [2013]

Sly Stallone and The Fast & The Furious' Sung Kang drive around killing people in director Walter Hill's Bullet To The Head, an adaptation of Alex Nolent's graphic novel Du Plomb Dans La Tete.
It's pretty much cinematic trash that seems like it was scripted by an uneducated adolescent with absolutely nothing worthwhile to say.  With films like these you would at least expect some sort of thought put into the kill sequences or the one-liners but there is none of that to be seen.  The film is simply void of any appeal whatsoever.

½ headshot out of 5

BETTER LUCK TOMORROW [2002]

Serving as sort of a lead-in to the Fast & Furious' Han Lue's life before his life of cool cars &organized crime, writer/director Justin Lin's Better Luck Tomorrow is a bit difficult to wrap your head around at first.  

It's not particularly flashy or fast-paced like the F&F series but seems more like an indie-crime drama that can't quite decide what it wants to be.  It's filled with loads of bizarre camera shots and multi-layered character moments but also has it's fair share of awkward performances and klunky dialogue.  Take a bunch of F&F type characters and place them in thoughtful, down-to-earth situations and it quickly exposes them as the douches they are.  All faults aside, it's a frightening and shocking film that proves Lin has a little something more inside him than just dumb action films. 

3 Beaver Cleaver The Teachers out of 5

FAST FIVE [2011]

Playing like a who's who of the Fast & Furious franchise, Fast Five brings nearly all the past characters together for a royal rumble, like a grungy Ocean's 11.
Sure, it's filled with cliches and predictable plot points but it's just so damned rough and loud you don't care. Hell, Vin Diesel and The Rock trade punches like it's nobody's business.  They really toned down on the bad hip-hop music and the pointless 'tits & ass' shots to focus more on the outrageous action.
If this is this was the grand finale, then I'd be happy. It's not though....watch for an extra scene after the credits, for an insanely SILLY "jaw-dropper" setting up for another sequel.

3½ Mobile Bank Vaults out of 5