At this point, how does one review a Fast and Furious movie? I mean, you already know what you’re going to get. There’s pretty much nothing left to say about these films, now entering its seventh in the franchise. If you’re a fan of the series, you have already bought your ticket, and have already decided it’s the best one of the seven. If you’re not a fan of the series, you’re not gonna start by watching this one. If you are the former, then you’re in for one hell of a high-octane ride of craziness. Still delightful and exhilarating using the same old set pieces that you’ve come to expect.
Furious 7 pretty much picks up after their success in Fast & Furious 6. Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel, doing his best live-action Groot impression), Brian O’Conner (Paul Walker), and the rest of their merry band of speed freaks, have returned to the U.S. to try and live normal lives as best they can.
Unfortunately, Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham), the brother of Fast & Furious 6 villain Owen Shaw (Luke Evans), is on the rampage for revenge. After he kills one of Dom’s crew, they each, immediately, plan their own course of vengeance. This also happens to coincide with the plans of the U.S. government, led by the always smooth, Kurt Russell. They are hunting down a terrorist group, led by Jakande (Djimon Hounsou), which have kidnapped a brilliant hacker, Megan Ramsey (Nathalie Emmanuel). The plot is stupid, weak, and, frankly, brings nothing new to the action genre. But, it does manage to get our cast of characters into risqué, glamorous places across the globe, where they can put their need for speed to good use.
Deckard and Toretto basically play chicken the entire movie. Occasionally letting the other subplots have a chance: Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) is still trying to recover her memory, and Hobbs (The Rock), who is injured by Deckard in the beginning, doesn’t come back until the end. Though, when he does, it’s worth it. The rest of the cast; Jordana Brewster, Chris “Ludacris” Bridges and Tyrese Gibson, all have their moments, but they’re not important to the plot, and are there, essentially, because they’ve been in all the other flicks.
All plots comes together in a massive final scene where Jakande takes his helicopter and drone to downtown LA, and blows up everything in sight, looking for Ramsey, as O’Conner and the crew keep her away from him. While that’s all happening, what the audience really wants, what your price of admission is really paying for, is about to happen. As downtown LA falls apart around them, right in the middle of the firefight, begins the battle of the decade: Statham vs. Diesel.
Teased many times during the movie, as they always seems to miss one another because of plot; now it’s time. These two titans go at it, street-fighter style, with an operatic Dual of Fates type theme. It’s a no-holds-barred battle, as they beat the shit out of each other for about 20 minutes. Ending with huge explosions, missiles, bombs, grenades, cars and The Rock firing a handheld minigun. Pretty much everything in the world that can blow up is used in one of the most action packed, balls-to-the-wall, finales ever seen.
It’s much of the same thing as the past six films; completely over the top action, bad dialogue, lackluster writing, over-sexualized women, and enough car porn to make any enthusiast lose their mind. On top of all that, the movie does manage to eek out characters that the audience cares for. Whether it be the actors that play them, or the memory of Paul Walker. It seems to work. It’s fun. Many times I found myself smiling at a cheesy joke, or an action beat that is so ridiculous you have to smile at the sheer idea that someone came up with something so crazy.
As the movie rolls along from A to Z, we get the normal cringe-worthy abuse of cinema. The sad part is, in between the fun action beats, there sits the laughable dialogue that is so weighed down by the melodrama and product placement, it’s like watching a TV ad with a movie somewhere in the middle. You can’t imagine there would be a part eight, but, of course, it’s been left open for another. “Why?,” you may ask yourself. Oh, because the franchise has made over $2.5 billion worldwide. That’s why.
The special effects are damn good, as are the massive car chase scenes. Like the other six, the car scenes have never been badly filmed. They really do take care to make the overly dramatic action beats look fantastic. And, the movie is not short on those. From just regular racing, to five cars falling out of an airplane, then to expertly breaking into a well-armed vehicle down a winding mountainside road in a 25-minute action sequence that you never knew you wanted, or Diesel and Walker driving a car through three skyscrapers in Abu Dhabi, each effect and scene looks great. With a 250 million dollar budget, it had better.
Everything is taken so seriously in the movie. Which, over the course, you know by now. Vin Diesel reacts to everything, and so many times we have to be reminded that he “doesn’t have friends, he has family.” As if we didn’t know at this point, it starts to become ridiculous to keep saying it, let alone bringing it up. With all of the rewrites, you know it’s only being mentioned as much because of the death of his friend in real life.
Not to bring it down, but yes, the sad death of Paul Walker is something you honestly don’t forget through the whole movie. Not only because every scene he is in you are reminded of it, but also, by the end of the movie, you can see it is a Walker CGI face over his two real-life brothers (Caleb and Cody Walker), who came in to be his stand-in. It doesn’t take you out of the movie, but you are aware of it. Props to director James Wan, who expertly deals with the omission of Paul Walker. The dedication to their fallen friend is proudly seen throughout, and you’ll struggle not to get caught up in the emotion, as the cast and audience say goodbye to the actor. It’s done with the respect and care of filmmakers who clearly loved the man. It really gives the viewers a perfect goodbye.
Overall, the movie is just the same exaggerated action film you’ve come to expect. And, honestly, that’s why you’re going. It’s fun, and has its moments of really good material, but, also, it is chock full of action tropes that are old and overused. Ultimately, the affection from the actors and filmmakers is what elevates Furious 7 above its predecessors. Because, even though it’s silly, over the top, and gratuitous, it’s outstanding for what it is.