Fast and Furious 5 - Extract Review

Fast and Furious 5 extract from: 1:29:00 – 1:32:00

This is one of my favourite films of all time, with Director Justin Lin (The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, Fast & Furious) returning to the helm for this adrenaline-charged sequel reuniting series stars Vin Diesel and Paul Walker for their biggest thrill ride yet. With the police in hot pursuit and wanted fugitive Dom (Diesel) in tow, Brian (Walker) and Mia (Jordana Brewster) make their way to Rio, and realize they've run out of luck. In order to earn their freedom, they'll have to pull off their biggest job yet. After assembling a crack team of the top racers in Brazil, the gang prepares to confront the crooked businessman who seeks to silence them forever. In this extract the Dom and Hobs (Dwayne Johnson) are in a conflict that determines the set for the rest of the film. The film makes have set up many things to increase the effect on the viewer.

The lighting in this scene is of a sinister nature, showing the rage and the hatred between the pair and showing a correlation with the fact that they are two huge guys charging like bulls at each other. There is small industrial lighting in the scene as it set in a worn down warehouse. Also there are no extra or strong spotlighting present creating a dark tint when the pair confront each other, with only the setting sun as the light giving a yellow/red filter on the scene.

The mise’ en sence is a major part of this scene and how it affects the viewer. As Hobs smashes his way into Dom’s path, he smashes up his pride and joy. His car. This car was the pride and joy that his late father and late girlfriend held close to their hearts meaning this airlume was so very special to Dom. This planting of that particular car sets up the scene because in the next mid shot he looks like he has had his heart wrenched out showing the significant value of the car. Also the blurred cars in the background show that this very un fast and furious like scene, still shows the value that the cars play even if it a background appearance. The ‘homely’ state of the props (sofa, grill, and computer) in the warehouse which the team were staying in and the first punch of thrown by Dom shows that Hobs and his team are out of their comfort zone. Therefore this may lead the audience to have different opinions, meaning this would appeal to the different audiences. The pair are dressed very differently, Dom wearing oily and sweaty t-shirt whilst Hob’s is wearing a full army uniform, showing that the two come from different backgrounds. Dom from a unstable and messy life, to Hob’s life of authority. In addition to this, when the two are fighting there is a 5 second pause, Dom’s pov is that of his sister, and the strong relationship with his sister is shown on screen as he picks up a wrench and is about to end it all but somehow his Mia manages to stop all the madness.

The sound in this scene adds to the action, the diagetic sound of the cars being crushed as they smash into each other and of the grunts and threats of the two, showing hatred. In addition to that the crashing sounds are over exaggerated and louder then what they actually should be. The non diagetic sound of fast paced music adds to the disfigured rushing of this particular scene.

Also the cinematography of this scene means that different aspects are explored in this scene. The panning of the camera was disjointed also fast ‘jolty’ movements of the camera as the pair were fighting and the human like height of the camera gives you a real in depth view of the situation. The use of eye level and pov shots allows you to see the expressions of anger on their faces and the worry of desperation on Mia’s face as the fight draws to a close this also shows that she’s worried for her brothers sake, all these different aspects (lighting, mise’ en sence’, sound and cinematography) of the film are trying to achieve the same thing within this scene, the long shot of Mia through the glass shows real distress and allows the viewer to assess the situation as if they were one of the characters, therefore drawing the viewer in.