Physics and logic are about to take a rough beating from “Furious 7” crew, as they toss both of them out the window early in the movie. It’s been almost 15 years since this franchise began, now the 7th installment aims high,literally with flying cars & more.
The plot involves Dom & company are being hunted by the brother of the previous movie’s villain, Deckard Shaw(Jason Statham) in revenge for killing him. They are being picked off one by one till they decide to go on the offensive in a battle that spans multiple countries.
Possibly the most use of the fast cars in the series in a while, the film comes up with creative & outlandish ways to use the vehicles as weapons. Director James Wan combines a mix between disaster, spy and superhero flicks into one film. Ludacris, Michelle Rodriguez and Tyreese Gibson all have their moment to shine as Tej, Letty and Roman respectively.
As with previous entries, the chemistry between the characters is the heart of this adventure. Audiences have had seven movies of watching these characters grow, and watching them banter is possibly more entertaining than any of the insane stunts.
The stunts are impressive using mostly practical effects whenever possible and CGI to make the impossible a reality. The choreography deserves a mention as the fight scenes like the one between Michelle Rodriguez and Ronda Rousey are a brutal dance of fists, kicks and grapple takedowns.
The film started with a premise of avenging a Han’s death, and then it turned into a globe-trotting trip and with each new location a viewer can’t help but ask “wait, what we are doing here again?” Even though the plot veered way off, the action set pieces more than make up for the lack of focus.
A problem that arises throughout this film is when characters are shown to be near indestructible and the audience is expected to believe that anything less than a nuke could kill them. A character walked off getting shot in the head before winking at the camera, reminding everyone what movie they’re watching.
The movie’s runtime is a little long and while a fun adventure, it felt like it was going nowhere at times. Rarely, is there ever a minute of downtime, which can hurt the big action moments because everything is always going 100 mph.
Dom ends almost every sentence with word “family”, if this whole street racer secret agent thing doesn’t work out, he can definitely become a guidance counselor or become Groot’s long lost cousin in the Guardian films
Shaw is portrayed as a very real threat throughout the movie and his persistence to kill Dom’s crew is almost like a Terminator. My only gripe with him is they show he’s a very capable threat till the final battle, where it seems he went from Terminator to Random Thug #2.
It’s well known that since Paul Walker died in 2013, his brothers & CGI were used complete the rest of his scenes. I was watching like a hawk to see where the CGI-Walker, but that moment never really came and everything felt as if he never even left.
If your one of those people that gets hung up on the fact there’s a talking snowman in “Frozen”, then number one this may not be for you and number two you need way less free time. All of these are just minor annoyances that can turn into a big one for those who can’t suspend their disbelief.
The Rock doesn’t appear in many scenes, but when he does it’s very special and will be the big talk in the parking lot afterwards. Between Vin Diesel deadlifting a car or The Rock flexing his way out a cast, ”Furious 7” doesn’t want anyone to question where it’s going but rather just enjoy the ride.
Signaling the start of summer blockbusters with an exclamation point, this film brings humor, explosions and heart all in one package. Now get in that beast of a ’97 Camry and drive fa-, I mean moderately safe to the nearest theater to see this flick.
Ian Made Something 