The Fast and the Furious franchise ran out of gas halfway into “Tokyo Drift”. Yet the filmmakers decided to revive it by bringing back the original cast in 2009. Not a bad idea, especially if you’ve seen “Fast Five” (which remains my favorite so far).  So what’s new here? Nothing much. But if you care about this series, and multitudes do, you’d want to see it anyway. Newbies aren’t likely to play catchup. The film picks up right where the previous one ended.  Vin Diesel, Paul Walker and the Rock aren’t “real” actors but they get the job done. Just Look at the diminishing box-office results: The first one grossed $145 million, the second (without Diesel but with Walker) did $127 million, the third (without either) made only $63 million. Then when the original cast returned, the fourth film made $155 million and the fifth $209 million! There goes your theory that audiences are just in it for the cars. So bringing Diesel and Walker back was always crucial. And Michelle Rodriguez (who supposedly died in part 4) also returns. Are they all worth their fat paycheck? I’d say yes. Not that any of them got better, but they certainly look more relaxed and they seem to enjoy this whole crazy business. And I did too, at first.  But then director Justin Lin decides to ruin it as usual. And it seems that he still hasn’t learned film geography. Even the kinetic races, meant to make the movie more exciting, fall flat from spatial incoherence. You barely know what’s happening, and to whom. And yet I can see why “Fast and Furious 6” might be a smash as audiences look for escapism. Does it reinvent the wheel? Heck no. But the boys certainly can’t get enough of it.

Rating: 2/4