Matthew Goudreau
It’s rather amazing that a series like The Fast and the Furious has garnered the longevity it has. A lot of action franchises fade out well before the seventh installment due to either creative relapses or devolution into self-parody. The Fast and the Furious has avoided both of these trappings by its ability to change from an emphasis on street racing to full-fledged heists. Fast Five was the first in the series to take on this new identity and to great success, as it was the film that finally got me invested in these movies. Thanks to franchise mainstays Vin Diesel and the late Paul Walker as well as welcome addition Dwayne Johnson, the series has found new life with not only Fast Five, but sequels Fast and Furious 6 and the newest film Furious 7.
Furious 7 is not only a sequel to the prior film, it’s the first film in the series to take place following the events of The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (the 3rd movie). Dom Toretto (Vin Diesel) and his crew successfully defeated a team of mercenaries led by Owen Shaw (Luke Evans) in the sixth film. This time around, the team finds themselves on the defensive against Owen’s older brother Deckard (Jason Statham) who is out for revenge. For those in need of a refresher Deckard was responsible for the death of Han in Tokyo Drift. Dom and his crew are approached by secretive government forces lead by a “Mr. Nobody” (Kurt Russell), who offers them the chance to track down Shaw if Dom retrieves a piece of espionage tracking equipment called “God’s Eye.”
If you’re someone who’s complaining about the absurdity of the story, I’d like to reiterate this is the seventh film in an over the top franchise. Part of what’s kept this franchise going is the increasing escalation of absurdist physics and action with each subsequent film. Nothing I can say will convince you this film is anything other than pure escapist fun. It’s dumb and full of bad dialogue, but that’s part of the charm. Unlike say a Michael Bay Transformers film, the tongue is planted firmly in the cheek. It’s compact with action without a sense of numbness or repetition. Besides, does anyone actually care about the plot of films like Commando or Lethal Weapon? Action films need a consistent rhythm, characters you enjoy seeing, and well, great stunts and set pieces. Furious 7 provides all of that and ramps up the action as the film progresses.
I judge the films in this series in comparison to the other movies. While Furious 7 doesn’t have the freshness of 5 or the great villain or 6, I had a lot of fun watching it. The returning cast is consistent with what they’ve previously done, but the tragic passing of Paul Walker has a surprisingly emotional involvement in the film. Even as someone who doesn’t care for some of the early films in the series, the tribute to Walker brought some emotion out of me. There’s a family feel watching the group in all these movies. The cast has great comradery and they crack jokes at one another like families do. I was disappointed that Johnson’s role was reduced compared to 5 and 6, but his natural charisma shines when he’s on screen and he’s missed when he’s absent.
I was also somewhat disappointed with the way Statham was utilized in the film. Great action films need great bad guys: the kind of villains you hate or admire for being so badass. Statham brings the right amount of intimidation but he’s barely given any memorable dialogue or one liners. Not only that, he’s more of a plot device than a fully fledged villain. Whenever Dom and his team are in the middle of an action sequence or heist, Shaw magically appears to come after them. It makes the “God’s Eye” rather meaningless because it’s not like they need it to find him. Along the same lines of Statham, Djimon Hounsou has a fun role as a mercenary allied with Shaw but is also rather generic. He practically plays the same role he did in Guardians of the Galaxy.
As an action film, Furious 7 provides a lot of thrilling sequences. The highlight of the film is watching a series of cars skydive out of a military aircraft to proceed into a speed chase on the streets of Europe. Like I said, the action is as ridiculous as it gets. It’s gotten to the point where these characters are full-fledged superheroes. They can survive massive car crashes without major injury and Toretto can even smash the cracked ground with his foot to collapse the entire floor. The over the top antics evoke the period where Schwarzenegger was in his prime. As a big fan of both he and guys like Stallone, I don’t mind the ridiculousness at all. If anything, it’s a tribute to that era and a fun aversion from the gritty Jason Bourne type action films of recent years.
If you’re someone who does not like any of the previous film, Furious 7 won’t change your opinion. I’d also say this is not the wisest way to start watching the series. Not that the continuity and timeline of this series is easy to begin with, as even I sometimes get confused. With that said, director James Wan does a more than competent job in retaining the sense of fun the previous few films have had while amplifying the action. At times it’s a little choppy and I did find myself occasionally miss Justin Lin who directed 3-6. Even though it’s not quite the summer season, Furious 7 is the kind of fun blockbuster that makes no bones about being anything more than what it is. It’s cheesy and not exactly Aaron Sorkin approved dialogue, but as Toretto once said, “We talkin’ or we racin’?”
Review – ‘Furious 7’ (2015)
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