Film: Fast & Furious 7

Following a slight dip in form with number 6 the Furious gang return in Paul Walker’s final film and they are up against Jason Statham who plays the brother of a previous adversary who is out for revenge.

The action kicks off from the start as we are treated to an excellent battle between Statham and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s FBI Agent. From there the fists keep flying along with extravagant car chases and big gun battles culminating in a city wide trail of destruction.

If you are a fan of the series you will love this, it even manages to close the silly time loop that excluded the Tokyo Drift movie so Lucas Black gets an appearance, albeit a cameo.

Martial-arts star Tony Jaa (Ong-Bak) also appears and adds much to the already top-notch action. Vin Diesel and Paul Walker deliver their standard but always terrific turns and there is hardly time to take a breath until this instalment comes to a moving conclusion.

Catch it in cinemas now.

Ric’s Rating: Essential 

Film: Fast & Furious 6

Dom (Vin Diesel) and the gang are back in the latest instalment of the fast car series and this time they’re on the right side of the law.

Following their exploits in Rio the guys are living the good life but old adversary Agent Hobbs (Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson) soon turns up with a startling proposition.

Hobbs needs their help to track down an elite military group who are using all types of vehicles to commit robberies but they aren’t just stealing money or jewels, their swag is much more dangerous.

The action is mostly set in London (with scenes shot in my own city, Glasgow) but the dull atmosphere doesn’t match up to the location of the previous film. The CCTV monitored streets of London don’t make for as entertaining viewing as the violent favelas of Brazil. There are also lots of poor attempts at humour that the film could’ve done without, especially the pompous English car salesman, it just wasn’t funny.

Luckily the story begins to grip in the second half of the film. The re-appearance of Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) and the perilous situation Dom’s sister (Jordana Brewster) finds herself in adds an edge to the action.

The action scenes themselves are once again wonderfully staged. Throw in Hobbs and Dom fighting together instead of against each other this time and there is more than enough bone-crunching to go round.

To get the most out of this I’d recommend watching the previous films. Tokyo Drift isn’t necessary but we do finally catch up with the distorted timeline of that film in a nice after credits scene.

Fast & Furious 6 comes across as The Expendables on wheels and fans of either franchise will enjoy. Catch it in cinemas now.

Ric’s Rating: Good.  

Film: Fast & Furious 5: Rio Heist

Fast & Furious 5 aka Fast Five finds Dom (Vin Diesel) and Brian (Paul Walker) in Rio with their old friend Vince (Matt Schulze).

During an audacious train robbery the group falls foul of local mobster Reyes and swiftly form a daring plan to take him down.

Meanwhile Dom and Vince are being hunted down by elite Special Agent Hobbs (Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson).While eluding Hobbs the guys assemble a team capable of the job they have planned. This comprises of characters from the previous movies (except Lucas Black from "episode" 3 because apparently that one doesn't count) ensuring that what follows is kind of The Expendables On Wheels.

There isn't a dull moment here as we are treated to a full-on action and car chase extravaganza featuring charismatic performances from Diesel and Johnson, the fight between the two is one of the films many highlights.

The ever dependable Paul Walker is on top form too and the tension between him and Schulze continues from where it left off, way back in the first movie.

There are laughs too as the team has good banter while they attempt to orchestrate their heist and to say the finale is spectacular would be quite an understatement.

This is the action film of the year so far and it's the best in the series by a long way, don't miss it.

Ric's Rating: 95%

Film: Takers

Another Bank robbers movie, this time it's all about the action.

Idris Elba (The Losers) and Paul Walker (The Fast & The Furious) lead a cocky team of robbers who always leave a full year between jobs. When a former team member is released from prison he persuades them to take on a $30million job, problem is it's in 5 days time.

Matt Dillon (Crash) and Jay Hernandez (Hostel) are the cops trying to track them down.

It's a well above average ensemble piece as all the main players have their own issues to deal with and there are some nice fight, chase (free running style) and shoot out scenes. Although the dramatic music and slow-mo can be a bit irritating at times.

Not up to the high standard of Ben Affleck's The Town but an enjoyable ride nonetheless.

Ric's Rating: 77%