FAST & FURIOUS 5 (12A, 130 mins) *** Starring Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Jordana Brewster, Dwayne Johnson, Elsa Pataky, Chris ‘Ludacris’ Bridges, Tyrese Gibson, Sung Kang, Gal Gadot, Matt Schulze, Tego Calderon, Don Mar, Joaquim De Almeida. Director: Justin Lin

If the law of diminishing returns of sequels holds true, then Fast & Furious 5 should be running on exhaust fumes and destined to fail a script MOT.

Instead, the turbo-charged fifth chapter of the franchise soups up the usual high-octane kit and caboodle with an Ocean’s Eleven-style heist and some of the best action sequences to date.

Logic is tossed out of the window to make way for turbo-injected stunts including an outrageous sequence of two cars towing a bank vault at high speed through the streets of Rio de Janeiro, the safe careening off the road and razing entire city blocks every time the lead cars turn sharply.

Director Lin delivers slam bang thrills including a theft from a moving train and a bruising fist fight between the two beefiest members of cast.

A chase across the corrugated iron roofs of the favela draws comparisons with the opening sequence of The Hulk and the Bourne films, and there is another nod to the latter franchise with an explosive ambush and gun fight.

Of course it’s too much to expect the dialogue and plot to be similarly robust, but moments of unintentional hilarity are seldom and the new characters pump up the action when required.

As the action unfolds, former cop Detective Brian O’Conner (Walker) and lover Mia Toretto (Brewster) spring her brother Dominic (Diesel) from a prison bus, then criss-cross borders, eventually hiding out in Rio with Dom’s childhood friend, Vince (Schulze).

The fugitives are double-crossed by drug lord Reyes (De Almeida) and they vow revenge by plotting to steal 100 million dollars of the corrupt businessman’s ill-gotten gains.

Dom and Brian recruit a top-notch crew of familiar faces for the heist: fast-talking Roman Pearce (Gibson), technical wizard Tej (Bridges), drift racer Han (Kang), speed freak Gisele (Gadot) and bickering double-act Leo (Calderon) and Santos (Mar).

Meanwhile, tenacious federal agent Luke Hobbs (Johnson) and his crew, including rookie cop Elena (Pataky), give chase.

Viewed with your brain idling in neutral, Fast & Furious 5 is well-tuned escapism that delivers all of the macho posturing, burning rubber and automotive carnage we have come to expect.

Diesel and Walker have given up the pretence of trying to act and occasionally nod or smirk at the camera as their seemingly indestructible wheel men put the pedal to the metal.

Bridges and Gibson provide comic relief, the latter echoing our disbelief about the final showdown when he shrieks, “This just went from Mission: Impossible to Mission: In-freaking-sanity!”

A coda, secreted halfway through the end credits, revs the engine on a potential Fast & Furious 6.

Ten years after the original film, the series is still impressively roadworthy.