'Fast And Furious 6' thriller analysis

Thriller text analysis no. 3 - 'Fast and Furious 6'

Fast and Furious 6 was released on the 17th of May, 2013.  The film spent a budget of $160,000,000, but reached a grossing of $238,673,370 from it's first screening on the 30th of August 2013.  The film is directed by Justin Lin.  The film's storyline continues from the 5th after a successful heist of $100,000,000.  The crew then get a shock report of a criminal who leads a gang of mercenary drivers across 12 countries.  They have to work with elite forces who tried to take them down in the 5th film.  The crew battle against an old friend who was part of their team who was thought to be killed in the 4th film.  The member (Letty) actually survived the car explosion due to purpose misfire but then lost her memory and was then 'adopted' by the gang leader, Shaw, an ex - SAS officer (played by Luke Evans), who then used her disability against her to join his gang.  The team and the elite forces have to team up to bring back Letty, and take down Shaw before he escapes. 

 



The film is a good thriller as the team and the elite forces have to fight through and against Shaw's team to eventually get to him.  The film leads on as the team fail to catch Shaw due to their cars, technology and tactics.  The team also fight and plan to get better cars to catch Shaw in the end. 

The techniques the film uses that make it a good thriller is to keep the story going.  There are moments in the film where people think the film is going to end because they may have gotten extremely close or actually caught Shaw, but then an event lets him get away.  In this film, Shaw tells Dom (Vin Diesel) That he "Can reach out and break him whenever he wants", and that he tells him that he better leave or his family is involved.  The audience then 'forgets' Shaw tells Dom this and near the end where they do capture him, Shaw then reminds Dom that he is stronger and yet he "can reach out and break him", which then automatically alerts the audience about Dom's family, which then shows the audience that Shaw's team kidnaps  Brian's family, - his wife and child.  He then blackmails them to letting him go or Brian's family would be harmed.  They then did, letting him go with the rest of his crew.  This then leads on to the 'real end' as they then race to stop Shaw and his crew escaping on a plane holding illegal stash, which is fast paced and action packed, keeping the audience on the edge of their seats.  The film finally ends as they kill Shaw, but also lose team members, who played a part in the earlier series, (for example - Gisele, played by Gal Gadot). 

The way the film also provides thrill by the fast paced car scenes and the stunts used.  This makes it fast paced and thrilling as it keeps the audience at the edge of their seats.  The use of the cars and the scenes i.e. the traffic infested cities like London and the highways in the US provide a fast paced and on the edge of the seat action because of the fast driving and the way they weave between cars and on opposite sides of the road, driving straight at oncoming traffic.

Some examples of this would be: -

1. Mersey Tunnel Chase Scene between Dom's team and Shaw's

 

2. Tank chase scene : - 



 

 

It also features breath taking moments such as Dom's leap and catches Letty : -

 

 

In the moment where Dom saves Letty uses a lot of fast heart pumping action as the lead up to the big event, there are two events happening; -  Brian is trying to push the car off the bridge to cause the tank to flip, and Shaw tells Letty as this is happening, to try and disconnect the cable from the tank.  This creates a adrenaline moment as it keeps you on the edge of your seat to what would happen to Letty if the car creates the tank to flip, which then leads up to the big moment.  The final part where Dom catches Letty, gives an almost "breath taking" moment as it happens in slow motion as they are both in the air and Dom is heading for Letty to catch her over the gap in the bridge.  When he does and as he crashes in the car taking the fall for her, it almost leaves the audience stunned by his bravery and what he did to save her.

 

Movie ratings and reviews

 

Overall, from the viewers, the film scored a 7.2 out of 10, but was yet rated 6.2/10 by metascore.  The users thought that the film was 'enjoyable' but also the 'no different' to the other films in the series.  I agree when the review was rated 'enjoyable' as there were two huge twists to the film; - 'Letty's fake death' and how Han is still alive, although he was seen to de in the explosion in 'Tokyo Drift' (the "3rd" F&F, which actually turned out to be a separate franchise to the original movie, as Han moves to Tokyo after the death of his lover in number 6).  However, I disagree where it says about it 'being the same' as it is different as in all the others, they are seen as the 'untrusted criminals', but in this they are seen as the heroes gaining respect for what they are doing, and also working with the police. 

 

The guardian also rated this film a 3/5, and said that "Silly but enjoyable, this sixth instalment of the franchise surprisingly still has fuel in the tank."  The critic who is with the guardian, Peter Bradshaw criticised it to say that - "The number 6 is not a reassuring sight, whether it's Police Academy 6: City Under Siege, three 6s on the infant Damien's scalp, or the 1990s New Labour adviser Perri 6. But despite being the sixth movie in the petrol-head franchise starring Paul Walker and Vin Diesel, this film's got a fair bit in the tank; it's silly but enjoyable."  I agree and disagree with this rating as I feel that they had improved a lot through the storyline, the unpredictable parts and also the stunts that brought the film together, however, I still felt that the film was very enjoyable with the humour and the fast-paced action in the film. 

 

 

Han's death in Tokyo Drift (orignal clip from the film): -

 

 

The ending after the credits of F&F 6, the cliff-hanger and the surprise ending.