Fast & Furious 6

Set in Europe, filmmaker Justin Lin's Fast & Furious 6—the latest installment in the massively popular street car racing franchise--concludes the second trilogy, marking the return of Letty Ortiz (Michelle Rodriguez), the love interest of rebellious Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel). This is initially a bit confusing since Letty supposedly died, but although she has amnesia, Letty is alive and kicking, working for British ex-Special Ops mercenary Owen Shaw (Luke Evans) and taking on Riley (mixed-martial arts fighter Gina Carano), sidekick of DSS Agent Luke Hobbs (Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson). Hobbs offers full pardons to Dom and his gang (including Paul Walker, Jordana Brewster, Tyrese Gibson, and Ludacris) if they will help him bring Letty in, retrieve some high-tech weaponry, and take down Shaw. Yes, the plotting is formulaic. Yes, there is massive vehicular carnage (one chase sequence involves a Jeep, an Alfa Romeo Giulietta, and a huge Russian Antonov cargo jet hurtling down a runway). But there's also a lot of good old-fashioned stunt work, embellished with CGI visual effects and a turbo-charged soundtrack. As pure popcorn flick fun, this is recommended. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include audio commentary by director Justin Lin, a four-part “making-of” featurette (29 min.), a stunt segment with star Vin Diesel (3 min.), deleted scenes (2 min.), and trailers. Exclusive to the Blu-ray release are an extended version of the film, the production featurettes “Planes, Tanks and Automobiles (25 min.), “Take Control” (20 min.), “Hand to Hand Fury” (10 min.), “Gearhead's Delight” (7 min.), and “The Flip Car” (6 min.), a clip from Fast & Furious 7 (2 min.), and bonus DVD, digital, and UltraViolet copies of the film. Bottom line: a fine extras package for a fun entertainment film.] (S. Granger)