FAST FIVE (2011)
Director: Justin Lin
Stars: Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Jordana Brewster, Dwayne Johnson
When last we left our heroes, in Fast & Furious (2009), Brian (Walker) and Mia (Brewster) were about to bust Dom (Diesel) out of a prison bus, as he was being transported to serve out his life sentence in Chino. They succeed - miraculously managing to not kill anyone after they flip the bus over at high speed, as we later learn from a local news broadcast (we're given no guarantees about the survival of the several other thousand people indirectly effected by vehicular crime throughout the film). Wanting to begin life anew, they head to Rio de Janeiro - their every move watched over by the statue of Christ the Redeemer, as we are reminded of several times throughout the film.
But while they now reside in paradise, they have not yet fully purged themselves of sin - Brian and the newly pregnant Mia have become impoverished, tying them closer to the physical world than the spiritual. After being double-crossed on a job by local businessman, and criminal entrepreneur, Hernan Reyes (Joaquim de Almeida, "The Latin Jack Ryan"), the protagonists decide to rid the area of his corruptive influence by stealing all of his money - giving themselves a chance to be born anew.
Hernan Reyes is the devil - he corrupts mostly through seduction, not violence. In a scene in which he talks to potential business partners, Hernan explains why the Portuguese were successful in conquering Brazil, while the Spaniards were not - the Portuguese came with trinkets, placating the natives with objects of desire. In order to keep receiving these needful things, they need only give over their service. . . their very souls, in essence. Reyes continues this model in the 21st century - he rules first through gifts, secondly through violence.
In order to pull off the heist, Dom organizes a crew consisting of characters culled from previous Fast & Furious films - a gathering of Apostles, who by merely believing in Dom are given the chance at a new life. It seems as if nothing can stand in their way. . .
. . .until the arrival of DSS Special Agent Luke Hobbs (Johnson), a man that Brian knew of in his previous life. Brian refers to Hobbs as being "Old Testament" - God's Wrath incarnate. He has arrived in Rio to mete out justice in blood, and doesn't care about the motivations or complexities of the human spirit. When confronted with the irregularity of Dom having supposedly killed a trio of DEA agents in cold blood, despite his relatively non-murderous relationship with the law in the past (the agents were in fact murdered by one of Hernan's men), Hobbs merely responds to the questioning police officer with a dismissive line about "names land on my desk, I take them down". In other words, "ours is not to question why", in regards to a higher power.
The police officer asking the questions about Dom's possible motivations is Elena Neves, a local cop whose police officer husband was killed by one of Hernan's men while on duty. Hernan killed him because he could not possess his soul, as he does most of the other police in Rio, and Elena finds herself living day to day, lost in a world of darkness. Enlisted by Hobbs as a local guide/interpreter, she manages to temporarily stop Dom during one of his getaways, before he manages to elude her. He does, however, accidently leave his crucifix necklace behind - the very symbol of the soul he's attempting to free from corruption. Elena retrieves the necklace, keeping it for herself. She finds herself becoming more and more enamored with it, and of the possibility of a life free from corruption.
Eventually, Hobbs finds his man. It's Old Testament versus New, as Dom and Hobbs fistfight it out for supremacy. In the end, Dom has the advantage, but despite his murderous rage, he decides not to kill - that is a life that he has left behind him. In triumph, Hobbs the righteous warrior carts his prize away.
But victory is not to last. Hobbs gets ambushed by Hernan's men, who end up killing his entire crew, with the exception of Elena. Elena frees Dom and the rest of the prisoners, who in turn save Hobbs life. As a token of gratitude, and as a means to take an eye for an eye from Hernan, Hobbs then agrees to help Dom and team with their heist.
The heist goes according to plan - except that no one knew what the plan was exactly, except for Dom himself. Brian and Dom drag a gigantic, hitched safe down the streets of Rio with two muscle cars, until they're halfway across a bridge - then realizing that they're never going to be able to outrun Hernan and the cops on such a straight and narrow path. Dom disconnects Brian from the safe, telling him to go on - Brian's child will be born free of original sin. Dom turns his car around, cranks up the nitro, and pulls the safe behind him. On a path as narrow as the eye of a needle, Dom swings the safe back and forth, knocking cars off of the road - money becoming the very means of destruction of these men of industry. In the end, Satan, as embodied by Hernan, is destroyed by Dom's hurtling vehicle - the angel of seduction and sedation destroyed by the propulsive instrument of humanity.
Hobbs arrives on the scene, to exact what vengeance he can from Hernan's wreckage. In an uncharacteristic act of mercy, in response to Dom's own, Hobbs gives Dom and team twenty-four hours of running time, before beginning his pursuit. Dom, and Brian, who had never truly left his side, depart. Dom had sacrificed himself to save them all, and had been reborn again, as had all of his people.
Hobbs examines the safe - empty. Just as the world of the flesh has been severed, so too has the reliance on earthly possessions. The money has been transmuted from lifeless bits of tree into the dreams, hopes and passions of those who now possess it.
FREDERICK OPINES - GOOD
