Not many movie franchises can say they have made it to a sixth entry with box office figures they can be proud of. Fast & Furious 6 is a testament to what dedication can bring to a project when all of the people involved are truly passionate of the work. With plenty of gas still left in the tank, Fast & Furious 6 proves that it can run with the big boys while also setting the bar higher for other franchises to step up their A game.

Starting right where Fast Five left off, we find our dynamic duo Brian O’Conner (Paul Walker) and Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) living comfortably with the special ladies in their lives, Mia Toretto (Jordana Brewster) and Elena Neves (Elsa Pataky) respectively. Brian has decided, now with his new family, he can leave his old life behind and start fresh. But for Dom, the past is not something he can let go so easily when he is visited by Diplomatic Security Service Agent Luke Hobbs (Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson), who informs him that a gang of terrorists led by Owen Shaw (Luke Evans) has recruited Dom’s old flame Letty Ortiz (Michelle Rodriguez) who was previously assumed dead.

Still on the lamb, Hobbs offers amnesty to Dom and his crew to help take down Shaw. With family on the line, Dom puts the band back together. Tej Parker (Chris “Ludacris” Bridges), Roman Pearce (Tyrese Gibson), Han Seoul-Oh (Sung Kang), and Gisele Yashar (Gal Gadot) join in on the fun once more to assemble The Avengers the best chance there is to stop Shaw and bring Letty home. How deep, right?

Shaw’s plan is minimal to the plot, once his plan is explained in brief by The Rock – steal computer electronics from the government to create a sort of EMP burst device to blackout cities and sell it at the highest bidder – the capacity of damage that a weapon like that would cause is never brought up in conversation again, losing an opportunity to build tension. The real urgency of the film is primarily on Letty’s safety and bringing down Shaw because he is the bad guy, not because of his master plan.

Although the risk for the crew seems far less severe than in Fast Five – joining forces with the DSS to capture a criminal versus evading imprisonment by the DSS in fear of a life sentence – the action and the danger has significantly increased tenfold. Toretto’s crew is evenly matched in almost every way against the calculating Shaw and his henchmen. While emphasis is placed on a heist in the fifth film, Fast & Furious 6 dedicates its time to family. That’s all well and good, but that becomes the majority of the movie’s focus aside from the high-octane set pieces. If you are looking for something with a little more range, you’ll have to go elsewhere.

The relationships between the group of international crime heroes could not be any more solid. Director Justin Lin takes the fantastic chemistry he established in Fast Five and fine-tunes it to a whole new level. It’s terrific to see that these characters can still surprise us, with Lin able to find the most rewarding places for them to grow. You would suspect that the actors would be tired of this series, but you never would be able to tell because everyone brings incredible energy on screen. Fast & Furious 6 is practically an established superhero team who you welcome back with open arms because they work so well together that you can’t help but miss their crazy shenanigans and comradery.

It’s simply amazing how well Justin Lin is able to smoothly retcon pieces of this franchise in order to fit the events of this film into one gigantic, cohesive timeline. The plotting is brilliant and with each new Fast & Furious entry, everything is bigger than before. There is action unlike anything we’ve ever seen before. And despite some of it being practically implausible, it all works within the boundaries of this movie universe because the storytellers have done such a good job to make you believe that it will work with these characters behind the wheel. It may be completely silly, and you’ll roll your eyes, but it is absolutely thrilling and very enjoyable. Planes, tanks, and ramp cars, Fast & Furious 6 has it all.

Regardless of how much of a threat Shaw really is to the world’s civility and his lack of motivation, Fast & Furious 6 captures the true essence of what family means to our heroes and the lengths they will go for one another. Lin has put in a sincere effort to deliver the best entry to the Fast & Furious franchise. The dialogue is still a bit goofy, but Fast & Furious 6 never fails to entertain. Fast & Furious 6 is fun, emotional, hilarious, and action-packed, everything you could ever ask for in a summer blockbuster.

Grade: B

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Fast & Furious 6, directed by Justin Lin hit theaters running at 130 minutes. The movie is rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action and mayhem throughout, some sexuality and language.