Not many movies can boast a fifth (and rumoured sixth!) installment in their film franchise, but with Fast Five hitting UAE cinemas in all its va-va-voom glory, it looks like fans could still be breathing in the film’s action fumes for numbers seven, eight, nine and beyond in years to come.
Picking up where the last film left off, with Brian and Mia busting Dominic out of jail, the crew find themselves joined in Fast Five by wrestler-turned-movie star, Dwayne (no longer ‘The Rock’) Johnson.
“My job is to find these individuals, whoever they are. Find them, hunt them and bring them in,” Dwayne told Flicks & Bits. “That’s it, that’s my character’s job – they can come in dead or alive, that’s up to them.”
So, with Dwayne onboard, and all the gang back together, e+ straps itself in to dish the fast goss from the silver screen’s coolest bad boys and girls…
Vin vs Dwayne!
“It’s very exciting for me as an actor to be a part of something this epic, something this successful,” enthuses Dwayne Johnson. “When you think about this level of success over 10 years, it’s so difficult to do. It’s difficult to do in any platform, regardless of what you do, they’ve been able to do it.”
And speaking of success, it won’t have escaped anyone’s notice that the cars are (probably) the biggest part of what gets fans salivating in the Fast films, with Vin revealing that over 200 cars were destroyed during the making of Fast Five.
“If we used a lot of CG we wouldn’t have had to worry about the cars,” admits Vin. “But we would have lost something that the audience feels when they watch the movie.”
With Fast Five promising to be an incredible shoot ’em up, wheel-spinning race through Rio, fans have been intrigued as to how two of Hollywood’s biggest action stars feel about sharing screen time – and e+ can’t make up its mind over who’d win in a fight between Vin and Dwayne.
“The fun thing is I know they wanna see Vin versus The Rock, The Rock versus Vin, something you never thought you would see before,” admits Dwayne. “Seriously what the audience is gonna get with me and Vin together is an intense, solid, epic, match up.” Adding, “I wish Stallone and Schwarzenegger got together in the 80s, we’ve that opportunity now, we wanna deliver.”
The girls get into gear
Having lit up the screen as Mia Toretto in the first movie The Fast and the Furious, Jordana Brewster didn’t return for the next two sequels, but came back for Fast & Furious and now again in Fast Five. And Jordana’s to be credited with having made Mia such a strong female role, handling many of the action stunts herself.
“In Puerto Rico I got to jump off a building with Paul and that was awesome,” laughs the gorgeous 31-year-old. “That was really fun, so there’s a lot more action for me in this movie, which I love.”
And there’s a whole host of new faces joining the cast, including Elsa Pataky, who plays Dominic’s love interest Elena – and also Agent Hobbs’ right-hand woman.
“I had to train hard for two weeks with a SWAT team,” reveals Elsa. “Learn how to use a gun properly.” Adding of her character, “She’s an honest, strong and courageous woman. She knows what she wants and will never give up until she’s got it.”
‘Running for our lives’
With the movie’s main eye candy, 37-year-old Paul Walker returning as ex-cop, Brian O’Conner, Paul’s excited to be bringing new elements to his character.
“Basically we’re running for our lives, it’s the only way to make things work,” he reveals. “Brian’s happier than he’s ever been, he’s living more free… He’s floating in the midst of all this crazy stuff going on, he’s on cloud nine.”
And he admits his camaraderie with Vin Diesel isn’t just for show. “Vin and I, we get along and I think there’s this mutual respect and fascination with one another,” he says. Adding of Dwayne’s addition to the cast, “There’s no better match to fit for Hobbs, he owned it. When he walked on set you were like, ‘There’s Hobbs’.”
The speed freaks
The anti-hero: Vin Diesel
Role Dominic Toretto
Muscle-bound Dominic is the ultimate petrolhead bad boy, whose amazing racing skills drew the attention of an FBI task force in the first movie.
The ex-cop: Paul Walker
Role Brian O’Conner
Having infiltrated Dom’s crew in the first flick as an undercover LAPD detective, Brian and Dominic became fast friends to the extent of Bri busting Dom out of jail.
The car cutie: Jordana Brewster
Role Mia Toretto
As Dom’s sister and the object of Brian’s affections, car engineering genius Mia is – refreshingly – way more than just a pretty face.
The cool pal: Tyrese Gibson
Role Roman
Brian’s ex-con best pal, Roman returns to help the racers on their Rio jaunt.
The New Guy: Dwayne Johnson
Role Hobbs
He may no longer be ‘The Rock’, but Dwayne beefs up Fast Five with his turn as an unstoppable Federal agent.
