Fast Five
Universal Pictures | Release Date: April 29, 2011 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
66
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 41 Critic Reviews
Positive:
29
Mixed:
10
Negative:
2
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
The Hollywood ReporterMegan LehmannApr 23, 2011
Big crashes, lithe women and roiling testosterone, not to mention the addition of The Rock as a fire-and-brimstone federal agent – there's plenty to pull in the (mostly) young male audience. Read full review
90
We Got This CoveredBenjo ColauttiApr 15, 2017
Fast Five boasts incredible action scenes that are all varied and equally exciting. The film is full of clean, well choreographed shots that are easy to watch and the cast works great as a whole unit, making the film's running time breeze by. Read full review
83
The A.V. ClubScott TobiasApr 28, 2011
Like a proper action sequel, it's bigger, louder, and sillier than its predecessors, but it's more streamlined, too, smartly dumping the tired underground racing angle in favor of a crisp, hugely satisfying "Ocean's Eleven"-style heist movie. Read full review
83
Entertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanApr 27, 2011
High-octane trash, but you will go "Ohhhhhh!" Read full review
80
VarietyRobert KoehlerApr 15, 2017
The 10-year run of the “Fast and Furious” roadshow isn’t slowing down a bit in Fast Five, by most measures the best of the bunch, combining fresh casting choices, interesting Rio locales and literally smashing bookended action sequences. Read full review
80
TimeRichard CorlissApr 29, 2011
The picture delivers the high-octane, testosteronic goods of a warm-weather smash, and maybe the first great film of the post-human era. It's just a shame that every theater showing this nonstop auto race, this animated car-toon, can't be a drive-in. Read full review
80
Chicago ReaderMichael WilmingtonApr 29, 2011
Dwayne Johnson hops aboard as a stern U.S. agent hot on Diesel's trail, and the whole thing progresses to one of the looniest heists of all time. The result is the most exciting, visually jazzy, and absurd entry in the series. Read full review
80
The New York TimesManohla DargisApr 28, 2011
In a free-for-all like this, where the laws of gravity and dictates of narrative logic are left to eat dust, it doesn't matter when anything takes place or why. Read full review
80
Boxoffice MagazinePete HammondApr 23, 2011
Features some of the most exhilarating action sequences the screen has seen in years. Read full review
75
The Film StageJordan RaupApr 15, 2017
It’s difficult to imagine something funnier, dumber and more action-packed coming from this group. Read full review
75
The PlaylistDrew TaylorApr 15, 2017
What’s interesting is watching the way that Lin has to maneuver in and out of the limitations that the franchise has established, while attempting to push it into new territory. Read full review
75
The Seattle TimesMoira MacdonaldApr 15, 2017
If “Fast Six” is as much guilty-pleasure fun as this edition, directed within an inch of its life by Justin Lin (even the occasional subtitles are excitable), it’ll do just fine. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleApr 29, 2011
It's a movie for audiences who think exuberance in movies is more important than sense or logic and who can laugh at a movie and like it at the same time. Read full review
75
Washington PostSean O’ConnellApr 28, 2011
It delivers the most entertaining "Fast and Furious" adventure while also getting 2011's summer movie season off on the right lead foot. Read full review
75
USA TodayClaudia PuigApr 28, 2011
Inventive action sequences, deft stunt work and breathtaking cinematography make for revved-up fun. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertApr 28, 2011
What it all comes down to is a skillfully assembled 130 minutes at the movies, with actors capable of doing absurd things with straight faces, and action sequences that toy idly with the laws of physics. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeWesley MorrisApr 28, 2011
As is par for the course in a "Fast and Furious'' movie, the only persuasive physical intimacy is between the men. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerSteven ReaApr 28, 2011
Blissfully, brainlessly satisfying. Read full review
75
MovielineStephanie ZacharekApr 28, 2011
It's either genius or madness to put Diesel and Johnson in the same movie, or the same scene. They're both enormously appealing performers. Read full review
75
Tampa Bay TimesSteve PersallApr 28, 2011
Fast Five is brawny dumb fun, nothing more but that's enough. Read full review
70
SlateDana StevensApr 15, 2017
Justin Lin, who's now directed three movies in the Fast series, knows how to choreograph and edit an action sequence so that it's more than an onslaught of chopped-up images and grating noise. Read full review
70
Village VoiceKarina LongworthApr 29, 2011
Five's few driving set pieces, all economically cut for spectacle over continuity, are pumped to near-Crank levels of absurdity, with Lin transforming his ragtag bunch of fugitives' superhuman knack for escaping certain death into a running joke. Read full review
70
SalonAndrew O'HehirApr 29, 2011
Fast Five is a fantasy that in no way resembles real life; ordinary morality doesn't apply, and the audience knows that as well as the filmmakers do. Read full review
70
Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternApr 28, 2011
Gets lots of mileage from a combination of high spirits, scorn for the laws of physics, readily renewable energy and an emphasis on family values-not those of the nuclear family, but of hell-raising, drag-racing outlaws who genuinely care for one another. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesBetsy SharkeyApr 28, 2011
The sheer audacity of Fast Five is kind of breathtaking in a metal-twisting, death-defying, mission-implausible, B-movie-on-steroids kind of way. Not complaining, just saying. Read full review
67
Portland OregonianM. E. RussellApr 29, 2011
It's great to see The Rock re-embracing the action genre, and when his clobbering match with Diesel finally happens, it's as outlandishly room-wrecking as I'd hoped. Read full review
63
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliApr 29, 2011
Satisfies on a visual and visceral level while leaving the intellectual one cold and shriveled and starving. Read full review
63
Rolling StonePeter TraversApr 28, 2011
Fast Five will push all your action buttons, and some you haven't thought of. So what if you hate yourself in the morning. Read full review
63
Orlando SentinelRoger MooreApr 28, 2011
Absurdly long, absurdly over the top and absurdly absurd, Five Five - still manages to be more fun than any movie with its outrageous carbon footprint has any right to be. Read full review
60
The GuardianCatherine ShoardApr 15, 2017
For all its absurdity and the family friendly bloodlessness (despite the copious violence), it spins along very smoothly and efficiently. Read full review
60
Time Out LondonAnna SmithApr 15, 2017
Overlong but slick, this still gets away with simplistic dialogue and characters, perhaps because it doesn’t take itself too seriously. Read full review
60
Total FilmJames MottramApr 15, 2017
Say what you like about director Justin Lin’s lack of subtlety (or understanding of the laws of physics), but he knows how to kick-start an action movie. Read full review
60
New York Daily NewsElizabeth WeitzmanApr 15, 2017
Sure, a lot of the dialogue is dopey, and the eternally stiff leads once again compete for blankest delivery. But Lin distracts us well, packing deftly-shot races, explosions, and getaways into every corner. Read full review
60
The TelegraphTim RobeyApr 15, 2017
Director Justin Lin has become the man to give this franchise legs: the start and finish here, defying every imaginable law of physics, are series highs. Read full review
60
EmpireNick de SemlyenApr 23, 2011
Tough on nuance, tough on the causes of nuance, this episode has the highest velocity and lowest IQ yet. See it on the biggest, loudest, dumbest screen you can find. Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Stephen ColeApr 29, 2011
The 131-minute, car-racing film is adolescent guy date histrionics – screaming tires, snappy putdowns and, because we're in Rio, an occasional influx of bodies beautiful in Band-Aid bikinis. Read full review
50
St. Louis Post-DispatchJoe WilliamsApr 29, 2011
Fast Five represents Yankee ingenuity of the brutally stupid kind. Read full review
40
Austin ChronicleMarc SavlovMay 5, 2011
Fascinating, no? Of course, that's just one (obvious) reading of Fast Five. You could also say it's a kickass demolition derby – pure dumb summer fun – and often easy on the (hetero) eyes thanks to the inclusion of Brewster and Mendes. Read full review
40
Time OutSam AdamsMay 3, 2011
The Fast and the Furious movies haven't exactly gotten better as they've gone along. Read full review
38
Slant MagazineNick SchagerApr 15, 2017
From unique to generic, it's a gear-shift that may prolong the franchise's life (a mid-credits coda confirms that a sixth installment is on its way), but, in the process, also renders it redundant. Read full review
38
New York PostKyle SmithApr 29, 2011
If you're wondering why this movie must stretch past two hours, it's because it takes that long to read every item in the cliché dictionary. Read full review
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