"Gals" Friday! The Girls of Fast Five

I caught the midnight showing of "Fast Five" last night and only managed a power nap before heading to work early this morning. The film is the fifth entry in the blockbuster street racing, action-adventure film series starring Vin Diesel as Dominic Torreto and Paul Walker as Brian O'Connor.

The latest sequel is basically a love letter to fans of the popular franchise, bringing virtually every character from all previous series films together in one stunningly cool international adventure, that also competently takes the whole premise into an entirely different direction for the next film. And there will be another one! DO NOT LEAVE THE THEATER UNTIL AFTER THE CREDITS ROLL. There is an awesome "Easter egg" scene that will knock your socks off!

Joining Diesel & Walker are Tyrese Gibson, Chris "Ludacris" Bridges, Matt Schulze, Sung Kang reprising their earlier roles and Dwayne Johnson is introduced as Luke Hobbs, a hardcore federal officer tasked with bringing them all to justice. These guys have great chemistry as a group, and nobody gets the shaft in screen time. That itself is a hell of an accomplishment for director Justin Lin, but the whole package is also greater than the sum of its parts, and the parts aren't too shabby to begin with.

Check out the trio of lovelies (above; top) who are on hand for the wow factor. Jordana Brewster returns as Mia Torreto (Dominic's younger sister and Brian's love interest), Gal Gadot as Gisele (former liaison for drug lord Arturo Braga in Fast Four, newly recruited to Dominic's crew) and Elsa Pataky is introduced as Elena Neves (a Rio police officer personally requested by Hobbs to help him and his team capture Dominic's crew). Drool gentlemen, and others, it's expected! Go see Fast Five too. It is one of the best films of the year, and a great start to the summer movie season.