Fast & Furious 6 (2013)
In which we meet: Owen Shaw (Luke Evans), a former British Special Forces solider who now runs a team of international criminals. He’s pretty much the anti-Toretto: disloyal, sadistic, ruthless, and greedy. In the end, we also meet Shaw’s big brother Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham), who’s the big bad in Furious 7.
The Plot: Hobbs comes to Dom with a mission. Shaw is stealing the components to make a device that can take out the power to an entire area, and he’s going to see the completed device to the highest bidder. Dom’s hesitant, but when Hobbs reveals that Letty is still alive and part of Shaw’s crew, he gets the gang back together for one last job: stop Shaw and save Letty.
Comic Relief: Hobbs and Tej go to a car auction to pick up some high class rides for the team, but the snobby auctioneer writes them off as their attire doesn’t make them look like a “bawler.” The auctioneer comes to regret this later when not only do they make several extravagant purchases, but they also take his pants. (He did ask if there was anything else he can do…)
Michelle Rodriguez Tough Guy Line: To another member of Shaw’s team, “Klaus, aren’t you team muscle? Don’t make me go over there and make you team pussy.”
Signature Stunt: On the sunny highways of Spain, Shaw and his team rob a NATO military convoy for the final piece needed for the device, which introduces an entirely new vehicle to the Furious menagerie: a tank. Dom and the others are forced to go cars versus tank, as a lot of leaping from fast cars in midair ensues in the wake of all the destruction. It’s one of the most thrilling, and one of the most dangerous, stunts yet attempted by the Fast and Furious team.
Disbelief Suspended: The climactic chase on the military runway as Dom and the team try to stop Shaw from taking off with the device is thrilling, but not terribly realistic. The longest runway in the world (according to Wikipedia) is at Qamdo Bamda Airport in China and is 5.5 kilometers long, while Shaw’s aircraft, an Antonov, needs to get to a speed of nearly 200 kilometers/hour. With the 12 minute-long sequence, that means that, in reality, Shaw’s plane would have had to travel up and down the runway nearly 20 times. Or that the runway in the movie was 20 times longer than the longest runway in the world.
In the end: Dom and the crew get pardons for their efforts to stop Shaw. Letty returns home, though she still doesn’t yet have her memory back. Meanwhile, after losing Gisele in the film’s finale, Han finally makes it to Tokyo where he meets his destiny. We see the accident that kills Han from a new angle. The man driving the grey car is the British-sounding thug that makes a phone call after the “accident.”
“Dominic Toretto? You don’t know me, but you’re about to,” he says.
The End? Nope, Furious 7 is in theaters everywhere this Friday.