It’s hardly surprising FAST & FURIOUS 5 (a.k.a. FAST FIVE) topped the US charts when it opened last week. The way it fetishises high performance sports cars and illegal street racing could put Michael Bay to shame and plays right into the nation’s giddy love affair with the automobile. Combine that with an attractive cast that includes numerous scantily clad females, and a plot fit to burst with nerve-jangling set pieces and high-octane action and Universal have a sure-fire front-runner on their hands. Some industry watchers believe the film might even have enough forward momentum to keep THOR from opening in the top spot this coming weekend.

What is surprising, and certainly a welcome fine-tuning of the formula that began as little more than a second rate POINT BREAK knock-off without the surfboards or rubber masks, is that FAST FIVE focuses less on the cars than its predecessors, opting for a straight-up action formula, albeit one that frequently involves high speed chases in attractive, expensive vehicles. Late night street races are replaced with an exotic heist set-up that is part OCEANS ELEVEN, part THE ITALIAN JOB. After busting Dominic (Vin Diesel) out of jail and high-tailing it to Brazil, former FBI agent Brian O’Connor (Paul Walker) and Dom’s sister Mia (Jordana Brewster) take a job stealing a couple of high end cars from a train. Nothing goes to plan, however, and the gang is targeted by Rio’s biggest crimelord, with a badass DSS agent (Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson) on their tail. Instead of running, however, Dom calls in his gang, including Tyrese Gibson, Ludacris and the jaw-droppingly beautiful Gal Gadot, and plan to rob the gangster of every cent he has instead.

Rio de Janeiro is a fantastic location for an action movie, and director Justin Lin (who also helmed parts 3 and 4) makes full use of the city’s precarious hillside favellas, gorgeous beaches, wide boulevards and the great expanses of wasteland further inland. Make no mistake, if there’s a vehicle or building to destroy, bridge or cliff to jump off or shaven-headed beefcake to knock senseless, FAST FIVE does it. Characterisation was never a strong point of the series, and little is done to expand on what we already know. Notable new additions include The Rock and Elsa Pataky as a righteous rookie cop, and while they do their best to get noticed above all the tyre-screeching and heavy gunfire, their characters are just as one-note as everyone else.

However, subtlety is not an action movie requirement, and FAST FIVE is big, loud, dumb and sexy enough to satisfy action fans, car nuts, and perhaps even their long-suffering girlfriends too. To say FAST FIVE is the best entry in the FAST & FURIOUS series to-date may not sound like high praise, but it’s also the best action movie of 2011 – at least until Michael Bay has his say with TRANSFORMERS: DARK OF THE MOON in July. Buckle up!