Justin Lin

News, Reviews & Features
  • Review: Fast & Furious 9 is a bloodless blockbuster Scalextric

    Movie Review | Ali Gray | 27th June 2021

    Is there any point in bothering to review a film like Fast & Furious 9? Its very existence is a middle finger to anyone who genuinely considers themselves to be a 'film critic' - even its title feels like the sort of cute background gag you'd see in Back To The Future II, a sly crack at Hollywood's over-reliance on familiar formula. Let me rephrase my original question: is there any point in me bothering to review a film like Fast & Furious 9? The answer is yes, thank you very much, because I haven't reviewed a film since 2019 and I couldn't imagine booking an easier comeback gig. It's a big stupid target for someone like me to take cheap potshots at and at the same time feel good about myself for ultimately giving it a positive review, as per the will of the people. Everybody wins! Except the criminals.

  • Star Trek Beyond

    Movie Review | Ali Gray | 21st July 2016

    The things you remember from Star Trek Into Darkness: the theatrical dramatic pause before the shitty Khan reveal; Benedict Cumberbatch doing that weird over-enunciation thing he thinks makes bad dialogue sound better; Kirk kicking the warp core like a broken printer; the bit where Bones basically cures death; Tribbles; the platform game level at the end where Spock channels Super Mario. The things you don't remember from Star Trek Into Darkness: the good stuff, I guess? I don't recall it being a terrible film, quite enjoyable in the moment in fact, but a post-viewing breakdown revealed the story to have as much structural integrity as a piss-soaked newspaper. Star Trek Beyond, however, rights everything that Star Trek Into Darkness put wrong. It may not be as polished or as ambitious as its predecessor, but it is far truer to the core themes of what Trek is all about; crucially, it's a film that looks to the future, not the past.

  • Fast & Furious 6

    Movie Review | Ali | 13th May 2013

    If you've never seen a Fast & Furious movie, Vin Diesel and Paul Walker play two alpha males who wish they could have energetic bum sex with one another, but have to settle for driving around big shiny penis extensions instead. Over five homoerotic odysseys, they've recruited various friends from around the world into their gang, all of whom perform one specific function, whether it be 'tech', 'comic relief' or 'looking hot'. In Fast & Furious 6, they team up with chief Fast Five antagonist Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson to hunt down Luke 'The Crow' Evans, an evil man who needs a computer chip to do evil things and who doesn't care how many cars he has to flip over to get it. There, you're up to speed – and that speed just happens to be TWO HUNDRED MILES PER HOUR.

  • Fast & Furious 5: Rio Heist

    Movie Review | Rob | 21st April 2011

    Fast Five? Fast & Furious 5? 5ast 5ive? Fa5t & Fiveriou5? Whatever the hell you decide to call it, this macho, manly franchise shows no signs of pulling into the slow lane. Grrrr!

  • Highlander gets rebooted

    Movie News | Matt | 24th September 2009

    There can be only...two? Yet another film is receiving the "reboot" treatment as Summit Entertainment announces that Highlander is due to be chopping heads in cinemas again soon.

  • Fast And Furious

    Movie Review | Kirsty | 23rd April 2009

    Fast And Furious is, confusingly, the fourth movie in the Fast And The Furious saga; a franchise ripe for sequels, bursting at the seams as it is with plotlines, enduring characters and witty, beautifully-written screenplays. Ahem. Vin Diesel and Paul Walker both return to their original roles, having popped in and out of the...