Furious 6

            It's strange to me that this weekend's big comedy barely got any laughs but the action juggernaut was riddled with genuinely funny scenes and one-liners.  Hollywood, you confuse me.

            On to the review!

            On Friday I told you to stay away from The Hangover Part III and now I'm going to do something I never, ever, ever expected would happen.  I am going to recommend Furious 6 as one of the most brainlessly entertaining action movies I've ever seen.  Is it horribly dumb, frustratingly ridiculous and so physics-defying that it actually pissed me off? Yes.  Is it still incredibly fun to watch?  Well, yes.

            Furious 6 picks up right where Fast 5 left off (one thing I could do without would be the ridiculous titles). Now the gang is enjoying their riches all across the globe.  Brian (Paul Walker) has settled down in the Canary Islands with his wife Mia (Jordan Brewster) and they now have a child.  While Dominic (Vin Diesel) is a close neighbor everyone else is scattered across the globe.  So when Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson, now with 40% more muscle) shows up with a very convincing reason to enlist their aid we get a few brief scenes of what everyone else is up to as Dominic assembles his team.

            It's a nice little look into how different people would address their sudden ascent into the land of the millionaire but it is also laughable at how nobody seems to remember that they're all wanted criminals across vast swathes of the world. 

            The plot is very simple from there.  Some guy named Shaw (Luke Evans) is assembling a device that, if used, would render an entire nation blind for 24 hours, making it worth billions to many criminal organizations.  It's the job of the Furious crew to stop it from happening.  Oh, also, Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) is apparently not dead and is working for the bad guys.

            The entire cast seems to really be enjoying themselves throughout the film.  It's nice to see Gina Carano again, because I actually liked Haywire.  Ludacris, Tyrese Gibson and Sung Kang are all back and all pretty damn entertaining.  The three of them share the bulk of the laughs, although their relaxed characters often diffuse any tension that may have otherwise been present.

            Then, of course, there are cars.  So many cars, both old and new, but all of them ridiculously muscled.  One of the interesting things I've learned recently when talking to some coworkers who are huge car guys, is that the earlier Fast and Furious films were actually intriguing for them, as the cars actually looked and acted just the way they're supposed to.  Guys would watch the first two movies and drool over all the specs, basically.  Nowadays, those same gearheads go to see the Fast and Furious films specifically to laugh at the poor physics and lack of general car knowledge on display.  Either way, I'm sure the studio doesn't mind as long as they keep buying tickets.

            While the final scene is so over-the-top that it sort of made me want to murder whoever thought there was such a thing as a 40-mile-long runway, I still have to admit that it was entertaining.  Even more interesting, the movie very deliberately sets itself up for another sequel, so my prediction is that it will be called & 7 and will be released in the summer of 2015.

            Is Furious 6 dumb?  Oh hell yes it is.  It is one of the dumbest movies I've ever seen.  Vin Diesel could give Superman a run for his money when it comes to shrugging off events that should land him in the hospital for months.  But it's an entertaining dumb as long as you're willing to overlook everyone's mysterious ability to walk away from horrendous, explosive car crashes without a scratch.