Fast Five


Fast Five is a 2011 American action film directed by Justin Lin and written by Chris Morgan. It is the sequel to Fast & Furious and the fifth installment in the Fast & Furious franchise. The film stars Vin Diesel as Dominic Toretto and Paul Walker as Brian O'Conner, alongside Jordana Brewster, Tyrese Gibson, Gal Gadot, Ludacris, Matt Schulze, Sung Kang and Dwayne Johnson. In the film, Dom and Brian, along with Dom's sister Mia plan a heist to steal $100 million from corrupt businessman Hernan Reyes while being pursued for arrest by U.S. Diplomatic Security Service agent Luke Hobbs.
While developing Fast Five, Universal Pictures deliberately departed from the street racing theme prevalent in previous films in the series, to transform the franchise into a heist action series involving cars. By doing so, they hoped to attract wider audiences that might otherwise be put off by a heavy emphasis on cars and car culture. Fast Five is considered the transitional film in the series, featuring only one car race and giving more attention to action set pieces such as brawls, gun fights, and the central heist. The production mounted a comprehensive marketing campaign, with the film being advertised through social media, virtual games, cinema chains, automobile manufacturers, and at NASCAR races.
Lin, Diesel, and Walker's returns were finalized in February 2010. Principal photography began that July and lasted until that October, with filming locations including Atlanta, Puerto Rico, and Rio de Janeiro. Brian Tyler, the composer of the previous two installments, returned to compose the score. The film is notable for primarily featuring practical stunt work as opposed to computer-generated imagery.
Fast Five premiered at the Cinépolis Lagoon in Rio de Janeiro on April 15, 2011, and was released in the United States on April 29, by Universal Pictures. The film received positive reviews, with praise for Lin's direction, the action sequences, and the performances of the cast; it is widely considered the best film in the franchise. Fast Five grossed $626.1 million worldwide, becoming the seventh-highest-grossing film of 2011, the then-highest-grossing film in the franchise, and set several records related to Universal's highest-grossing opening weekend in several international markets. It was followed by Fast & Furious 6 in 2013.

Plot

As Dominic Toretto is being transported by bus to Lompoc Prison, his sister Mia Toretto and friend Brian O'Conner lead an assault on the bus and free Dom. While the authorities search for them, the trio escape to Rio de Janeiro. Awaiting Dom's arrival, Brian and Mia join their friend Vince and other participants on a job to steal three cars from a train. Brian and Mia learn that agents from the DEA are on the train and that the cars are seized property. When Dom arrives with his accomplices, he realizes that their leader Zizi is only interested in stealing the Ford GT40. Dom has Mia steal the car herself before he and Brian fight Zizi and his henchmen, during which Zizi kills the DEA Agents. Dom and Brian are captured and brought to drug lord Hernan Reyes, the owner of the cars and Zizi's boss. Reyes orders the pair interrogated to discover the car's location, but they escape to their safehouse.
Dom, Brian and Mia are framed as the murderers of the DEA Agents, and the U.S. government sends a team of Diplomatic Security Service Agents, led by DSS Agent Luke Hobbs and assisted by state police officer Elena Neves, to Rio to arrest them. While Dom, Brian and Mia examine the car to discover its importance, Vince arrives and is caught removing a computer chip from it. He admits he was planning to sell the chip to Reyes, and Dom angrily forces him to leave. Brian discovers the chip contains financial details of Reyes's criminal empire, including the locations of in cash. Hobbs and his team arrive at Dom's safehouse, but find it under assault by Reyes' men searching for the chip. Dom, Brian and Mia escape after a chase across the favelas. Dom suggests they split up and leave Rio, but Mia announces she is pregnant with Brian's child. Dom agrees to stick together, suggesting they steal Reyes' money to start a new life. They recruit Han Lue, Gisele Yashar, Tego Leo, and Rico Santos, Dom's former allies, as well as Roman Pearce and Tej Parker, Brian's partners from his mission in Miami.
To centralize the cash, Dom's team attacks one of the locations and burns the money in front of Reyes's staff. Afraid of further attacks, Reyes consolidates the remaining money in an evidence vault inside a police station. Dom's team does surveillance, buys equipment, and acquires Reyes's handprint. After their fastest cars prove to be too slow for security cameras, they steal four 2010 Dodge Charger police cars to blend in. Vince rejoins Dom's team after saving Mia from Reyes's men. Hobbs's team eventually finds and arrests Dom, Mia, Brian, and Vince. While transporting them for extradition to the United States in a Gurkha LAPV, the convoy is attacked by Reyes's men. Dom, Brian, Mia, and Vince help Hobbs and Elena escape the ambush, but the rest of Hobbs's men and Vince are killed. Enraged at their team's deaths, Hobbs and Elena agree to help with the heist. The gang breaks into the police station with the LAPV and uses two of the Chargers to tear the vault holding Reyes's money from the building, dragging it through the city.
Advancing on the bridge after an extensive police chase, Dom has Brian continue without him while he smashes the police and Reyes's vehicles with the vault. Brian returns and kills Zizi. Hobbs arrives and executes the injured Reyes in retribution for his team. Hobbs gives Dom and Brian a 24-hour head start to escape on the condition they leave the vault as it is. When Dom and Brian depart, however, Hobbs finds the vault empty, as Dom's crew switched it via a trash truck before they reached the bridge. After splitting the cash and giving Vince's family his cut, Dom's team go their separate ways. In Monaco, Leo and Santos are gambling away their share at a casino. Han and Gisele are on vacation traveling down the German Autobahn, Tej and Roman have each purchased their very own Koenigsegg CCXR Edition, and on a tropical beach, Brian challenges Dom to a final, no-stakes race to prove who is the better driver. During the end credits, Dom and Brian are seen racing each other in their new cars to the limit.
In a mid-credits scene in Washington, D.C., Hobbs is given a file by Monica Fuentes concerning the hijack of a military convoy in Berlin, where he discovers a recent photo of Dom's girlfriend, Letty, who had been presumed dead.

Cast

  • Vin Diesel as Dominic Toretto:
A professional criminal, street racer, and fugitive. Known as the leader of the crew. Diesel was reportedly paid $15million to star in and produce the film.
  • Paul Walker as Brian O'Conner:
A former LAPD police officer and FBI agent turned criminal. He is in a relationship with Mia Toretto. Walker did many of his own stunts for the film, training with parkour professional Paul Darnell to improve his movement.
  • Jordana Brewster as Mia Toretto:
Dominic's sister and Brian's girlfriend; she is revealed to be pregnant.
  • Tyrese Gibson as Roman Pearce:
Brian's childhood friend. Known for being the slick talker of the team as well as an expert driver. Gibson's involvement was reported on June 30, 2010, reprising his role from 2 Fast 2 Furious. Gibson was committed to Transformers: Dark of the Moon at the time he signed on to Fast Five, so he flew between Puerto Rico and Atlanta to accommodate both films.
  • Ludacris as Tej Parker:
Brian's and Roman's friend from Miami in 2 Fast 2 Furious. Brought on the team as the tech expert. Ludacris announced his involvement in the film on July 12, 2010, when he stated he had arrived in Puerto Rico to begin filming.
  • Matt Schulze as Vince:
Dominic's childhood friend. Schulze had appeared in the original film, The Fast and the Furious, and it was reported on July 16, 2010, that he would be returning. He has a grudge against Brian for the events that happened in the first film, but they become friends after he saves Mia from Reyes' men.
  • Sung Kang as Han Lue:
A street racer who was Dominic's business partner in the Dominican Republic during the events of Los Bandoleros and Fast & Furious.
  • Gal Gadot as Gisele Yashar:
A former Mossad agent, returning from Fast & Furious. Although Gadot had prior experience handling motorcycles, she was required to learn how to ride the larger, more powerful Ducati Streetfighter for the film.
A ruthless drug lord posing as a legitimate businessman. It was reported on July 16, 2010, that Almeida would play Reyes. Having previously played several antagonists, he hesitated to take this role, but accepted it after speaking with Lin and hearing his take on the character.
  • Dwayne Johnson as Luke Hobbs:
A DSS agent. According to producer Vin Diesel, the role of Hobbs was originally developed with Tommy Lee Jones in mind. However, when reading feedback on his Facebook page, Diesel noted a fan stating a desire to see Diesel and Johnson in a film together. Diesel and Lin then redesigned the role for Johnson. Johnson wanted to work with Universal Studios, citing their support for him during his transition from wrestling to acting. He described the role as a former bounty hunter turned US Marshal and as "the government's version of the best bounty hunter on the planet". He undertook an extensive daily workout regime to enlarge his physique, wanting his character to appear as a "hunter" and to be formidable enough to present a credible threat to the protagonists.
A Rio police officer who works with Hobbs' team and becomes Dominic's love interest. It was reported on July 16, 2010, that Pataky would take this role. She underwent several days of tactical training with a police/military technical advisor and was required to learn how to handle her gun in a variety of situations to portray Elena believably.
The central cast is rounded out by Puerto Rican singers Tego Calderón and Don Omar as Leo and Santos respectively, members of the heist team, reprising their roles from Los Bandoleros and Fast & Furious. Michael Irby plays Reyes' right-hand man Zizi. Alimi Ballard, Fernando Chien, Yorgo Constantine, and Geoff Meedy portray Hobbs' team members Fusco, Wilkes, Chato, and Macroy. Luis Da Silva portrays Diogo, an elite Brazilian racer who challenges Dom and Brian to a winner-takes-all race. Michelle Rodriguez appears in photographs as Letty Ortiz, Dominic's girlfriend who is presumed dead following the events of Fast & Furious. Eva Mendes appears in an uncredited cameo as Agent Monica Fuentes, reprising her role from 2 Fast 2 Furious.