Fast Five

By virtue of putting out sequels regardless of whether or not the original stars can be tempted back, The Fast and The Furious franchise arrives at its own de facto The Avengers. Fast Five brings back every major-ish character (Devon Aoki's Suki excepted) for a rat-pack heist set in Rio. Charisma holes are plugged by The Rock, playing a perpetually sweating federal agent tasked with taking Vin Diesel's crew out / developing a crush on them. Fast Five represents a series thoroughly mutated from off-season slate filler to full-blown summer tent-pole. The pocket change CG tunnels of the previous film are gone, replaced with a billion dollar central set-piece involving a bank vault being hurled along peopled streets. It's Michael Bay's casual contempt for human life, filtered back through a teatime TV morality that sees terminated cops repeatedly identified as corrupt. One or two Dwayne Johnson scenes short of being very good, Fast Five is the best the series has been since the first film.