Furious 7 (2015) Directed by James Wan. Starring: Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, & Jason Statham. IMDB says: “Deckard Shaw seeks revenge against Dominic Toretto and his family for the death of his brother.”
I went into Fast Five with a chip on my shoulder – “oh theeese movies? How trivial… how corny…”. I didn’t hate it but still resisted its charms (they expect me to buy this insanely cool bank vault flying through the streets?). When Fast & Furious 6 arrived I figured – “eh, why not just continue since I saw the last one”. I found myself appreciating it a lot more (it’s almost like you knew all I wanted was Gina Carano and Michelle Rodriguez in a totally badass fight) but also keeping my wits about me (seriously, this damn runway is a highway long?!). Then when the trailer came out for Furious 7, my mindset seemed on a different track. I saw the scene with Paul Walker climbing up the side of a bus that was about to tip over a mountain and I thought “that’s so cool!” while grinning ear to ear. What has happened to me? Is this a cult? When do I get my chain cross necklace and tattoo that says “family”?
It’s funny how these movies both completely capitalize on the ridiculous action and feel sincere at the same time. They’re not really mocking themselves – just trying to show the most adrenaline fueled set piece possible despite any concerns for plausibility. The more you just let go of any sense of logic, you might find yourself in my shoes, actually joining your fellow pumped up movie theater patrons. Now the other side of the series is a fairly serious, melodramatic even, family element, how Dom Toretto champions his group of drivers and friends as a true family. It’s not that I don’t believe it or anything, but it doesn’t exactly pull at my heart strings either. There is a Paul Walker tribute that leaves the film on a really somber note and had me tearing up though.
However, at the start of the film we are introduced to Deckard Shaw, the older brother of the Furious crew’s last foe. He’s out for revenge and ruthless enough to want to kill Dom’s friends one by one. As set up by the shifted in chronology third movie (Tokyo Drift) his first victim is Han. The group bands together to take down Shaw, but first they are approached by a secret government agency represented by a man known as Mr. Nobody (an extremely welcome Kurt Russell). They offer that if they recover a hacker responsible for some dangerous surveillance program they can use it to track down Shaw. The whole cohort comes together with Dom (who’s trying to reconnect with Letty) and Brian (who’s trying to adjust to family life) because it’s essentially kill or be killed at this point. Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, Ludacris, Jordana Brewster (who’s completely sidelined) are all there along with my personal favorite Dwayne Johnson. He’s responsible for delivering the worst (best) one liners with some incredible charisma (anyone else curious what it would feel like to hug him? Just me?).
They’ve lined up another round of silly but fun and thrilling action sequences involving cars, but also lots of choreographed fighting. James Wan easily fits his style into this movie and you can see his direction distinctly if you’re a fan. Although Justin Lin did a great job directing the past few movies, there is a bit of excitement in the fresh way the action is captured. Wan and the rest of those involved mostly seem invested in giving you a really exciting theater experience. Sometimes the action is laughable, but you’re enjoying the absurdity of it all. It feels redundant to say at this point (along with most other franchises), but if you enjoy these movies you are in for another treat. You may just even finally give in to the insanity like me.
FTS SCORE: 75%