by Koushik Paul
The Fast and the Furious series has been through a lot. Just as its audience from the first film released in 2001 has slowly matured, so too have the movies. These films are no longer solely about hot girls and fast cars, although they’re still there. These movies have matured to the point where their car stunts, explosions, and surprisingly amazing hand-to-hand combat can compete with the biggest blockbusters around.
Fast and the Furious 7 takes place after the events of sixth installment of the franchise, where our heroes are now back home. There are many subplots including Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) struggling to recover her memory and Brian (Paul Walker) struggling to get adjusted to being a father. Enter Deckard Shaw, older brother of the villain in the last movie. Setting up a villain can be tough in many movies, but director James Wan needs only the presence of Jason Statham to create an opening scene that so perfectly introduces him.
The casting in this movie is still as strong as ever.
Most of the cast including Vin Diesel, Tyrese Gibson, Ludacris, and Dwayne Johnson have returned. Johnson in particular has less screentime in this movie, but steals all of the scenes he’s in. Roman (Gibson) and Tej (Ludacris) still provide most of the humor as the comedic duo. New member, Ramsey (Nathalie Emmanuel) fits well into the team structure, as female counterpart to Tej. Other notable casting include Tony Jaa (Ong-bak) who shows off his martial-arts skills, and Ronda Rousey, who shares a brutal fight with Letty. On the whole, the director really knows how to use the cast members well.
The main course of this movie are the setpieces for the amazing car stunts and they do not disappoint. The mountain and Abu Dhabi setpieces have much more to them than what’s shown in the trailers. The big surprise for the audience are the fight scenes, which are shot close to perfection, resembling the camera work in the Raid films.
The story is simple, as the villain wants revenge on the team for what they did to his brother, but it gets weaved into a more intricate story. There are elements of the heists from Fast Five and some of the military aspects from the last movie. This movie had the tough obstacle of filming around Paul Walker’s death. While the break in the story isn’t very noticeable, the final sendoff does justice for Walker’s legacy and shows just how much he meant to everyone in this
movie.
Furious 7 ups the ante in all aspects of the series, from the action to the characters, and has enough nods to the early roots of the series to please any die hard fan. This coupled with the amazing sendoff for Walker makes it a perfect 10 for any fan of the series. But for those who simply want an entertaining movie, it doesn’t disappoint. With great setpieces, stunts, combat, and characters, the thin and sometimes absurd plot can be forgiven.
Score: 8/10
