Monday Morning Quarterback Part I

By BOP Staff

May 2, 2011

Give me all your money. Well, more of it, anyway.

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Duh. The answer is Universal.

Kim Hollis: Who do you think benefits the most from Fast Five's debut?

Edwin Davies: My gut reaction would be to say The Rock, since he's been aching for a huge hit for the better part of four years now. Excluding The Other Guys and Get Smart, in which he was merely a supporting player or glorified cameo, this is far and away the biggest hit he's had since The Game Plan back in 2007. (Even then, that film only managed $90 million in its entire run, a total that Fast Five will reach by sometime on Monday.) This might be the shot in the arm that his career needs to get him out of family comedies or low-profile action films like Faster into something with a bit more oomph behind it.

Joshua Pasch: I doubt this role will do a lot for The Rock's leading man status that Edwin is referring to. I think it was fairly clear this franchise was still going strong and while his presence helped, no one is looking at this opening and thinking that The Rock's star power was the driving force behind it. He just hoped on board while the franchise was firing on all cylinders.

That said, it does help his career in the sense that if they decide to keep his character around for future installments then he can continue to revisit these films just like Walker, Diesel, and Brewster. He too will now have the intermittent Fast and Furious hit to go in between his underwhelming/underperforming other efforts.

Bruce Hall: My answer is "anyone who wanted to see part six and seven," because they're already on the drawing board. I would also agree that The Rock is the primary beneficiary from the cast. His status as an action hero has fallen into doubt in recent years, and he at least keeps himself in the conversation here. One reason is because the rest of the characters are only slightly more exciting than dry oatmeal, but The Rock really does do this better than Vin Diesel. I don't think this means he's a bona fide leading man, because I'm not convinced that he is. But just like Diesel, he works well as part of an ensemble and since action films seem to be trending this way, it guarantees that The Rock's phone will keep ringing for a while yet to come.




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Brett Beach: Having hated the previous installment, I had no desire to see this. Now that it's become, by far, the most critically acclaimed of the series and seems well on its way to $200 million, I almost want to revise my feelings, and check it out... no, still can't do it. Director Justin Lin is the big winner here. He has gone from directing the lowest grossing, almost non-entry in the franchise to resurrecting it and improving upon that resurrection (in Hollywood, that's only one miracle away from cinematic sainthood). And he has directed one of the awesomest eps of Community to boot ("Modern Warfare"). Now he will be overseeing Schwarzenegger's return to his most famous role? He may never go back to small-scale black comic fare like Better Luck Tomorrow, but um, he doesn't really need to.

Josh Spiegel: I agree with Brett, though I'm sure he meant "the awesomest," not just one of the awesomest episodes of Community. But, seriously, Justin Lin wins big here. While he's no household name, he's helmed the two biggest films in the franchise, proving that he can make a seemingly rote action-movie staple exciting once again. The Rock and Vin Diesel may get a bit of mileage out of this movie, but Diesel's already tried and failed to be a big star outside of this kind of picture. Lin's the winner here.

Max Braden: While I don't think Diesel or Johnson were in the dregs, Fast Five gives both of their careers a serious shot in the arm. I'd been thinking lately that Johnson was going to follow Eddie Murphy's/Mike Meyer's career of shifting into family and light comedy films. After all, we're coming up on a decade since The Mummy 2, his first movie and biggest opener/grosser in his filmography to date. Faster had him as a bad-ass, but he looked really impressive during Fast Five. Also, if I were a casting agent I'd be looking to put the sexy Gal Gadot, and Sung Kang into future big budget ensembles.

Jim Van Nest: At the very least, this result should guarantee Diesel and Rock offers to be in Expendables 3.

Kim Hollis: I feel like the answer is Diesel, because I think it's been made pretty abundantly clear that the franchise needs him in order to have massive success. I'm not necessarily saying I think he's going to go out and successfully headline other franchises, but I do think that this helps him have an argument that he can be part of an ensemble and drive a film to success.


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