Though I have revisited some of the more iconic scenes over the years, it’s been more than a decade since I watched Fast Five in its entirety. I recently changed that after the 2011 action flick, hands down the best in the Fast & Furious franchise, joined the list of best movies on Netflix. Little did I know before pressing play, but I would soon be reminded that an OG franchise character would be the heart of the movie.
I’m not talking about Vin Diesel’s Dom Toretto or Brian O'Conner played by the late Paul Walker. I’m talking about Vince, Matt Schulze’s character last seen a decade earlier in The Fast and the Furious. And you know what, I came out of this experience with a whole new appreciation for the former member of the Toretto crew and his arc within one of the best action movies ever made.
I Always Felt Like Vince Got A Raw Deal In The Fast And The Furious
Way back in the beginning of the Fast & Furious timeline, Vince was one of the key members of Dom Toretto’s crew. Despite being hot-headed and having no game with Dom’s younger sister, Mia (Jordana Brewster), I always saw Vince as one of the best members of the gang, either when racing or stealing DVD players off of 18-wheelers. On top of that, I’ve always felt like he got a raw deal way back in The Fast and the Furious.
Sure, he did try a little too hard when it came to Mia, but he was the only person in Dom’s orbit who knew that Brian was more than just some crazy good street racer. Vince was right about Brian being an undercover cop, and right about not being able to trust him, and he was pretty much cast aside for it. Then, who got seriously injured in the doomed job at the end of the movie? That’s right, Vince. He nearly got killed by a shotgun blast and almost lost his arm when it got wrapped up in the cable.
Vince Talking About His Son Shows How Much Dom And The Crew Meant To Him, Ever After Everything That Happened
Fast forward 10 years later and here we are in Fast Five with Vince getting back together with his old crew. Though he does try and pull a fast one on them by stealing the chip out of one of the cars they boosted earlier in the movie, he goes out of his way to protect his childhood friends and show how much they still mean to him.
After getting back with the crew to pull off the massive $100-million heist, Vince gets caught in the crossfire and succumbs to his wounds. Before breathing his last breath, he tells Dom that he needs to meet his son, Nico, whom he named after his longtime friend.
No one would hold anything against Vince if he never wanted to think about Dom or that part of his life ever again, but here he was free-falling from the streets of Los Angeles to the favelas of Brazil, and never forgetting his friend or how much he meant to him.
Vince's Redemption Arc Shows The Power Of Family
There is one thing and one thing only that matters in the Fast & Furious franchise and that is the power of family. I’ve made jokes in the past about Dom being a superhero powered by his love of family, but the bond shared by the various outcasts who find a place to call home with each other is no laughing matter (okay, maybe a little). One of the best examples of family coming together for each other is found in Vince’s redemption story.
At the beginning of the movie, he goes against Dom but eventually is brought back into the fold and puts his life on the line for the crew to complete his arc. His return, along with the announcement that Mia and Brian are expecting, led to Dom’s iconic “salute mi familia” speech. I completely forgot about the context of that franchise-defining line.
His Death Gives Us One Of Fast Five's (And The Franchise's) Best Dom Toretto Moments
There have been several characters who’ve died and come back in the Fast & Furious franchise, but Vince’s passing is one of the few that’s permanent (for now, anyway). His emotional final minutes where he told Dom to look after his son are followed by one of my favorite, and most defiant, Dom Toretto moments in the entire franchise.
After praying over Vince’s body and telling his old friend that he’s got eyes on Nico now, Dom tells his crew they need to move because they don’t have much time. But instead of fleeing Rio with their tails between their legs, Dom tells his crew “running ain’t freedom” before saying they’re free to make their own choices. The moment gets even more badass when a wounded Luke Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) appears out of the shadows and says he wants to help finish the job. Like...what?
Vince Is Also At The Center Of Two Of The Movie's Most Iconic Action Sequences
It isn’t all just great character moments for Vince throughout Fast Five, as the OG franchise character was also part of two of the movie’s most iconic action sequences: the train heist and the attack by Reyes’ men the day the crew was originally supposed to pull off the massive $100-million heist.
The train sequence has become the stuff of legend over the years, and is one of the most furious in the entire franchise. Before revisiting the movie, I completely forgot that it was the opening scene in this action-packed sequel. And, the shootout later, the one where Vince is ultimately killed, is an intense set piece that is a lot of fun to revisit after spending the past few years watching Dom and crew become superheroes and going to space. I was quickly reminded just how much I loved this movie with these two sequences.
All in all, revisiting Fast Five after all these years was a fun and eye-opening trip down memory lane. With Fast and Furious 11 coming out in a couple of years, maybe I should rewatch the rest of the franchise (in small increments, of course).
