Review: ‘Furious 7’ is a Bittersweet Last Ride

Just when you thought this franchise could not get any better, it just did.

Well, one thing is for sure, we know that this is not the franchise’s last ride but with 2-3 more to go potentially, the question arises as to how much this franchise can sustain any longer. I like how every F&F movie, they tease it like it will be the last one and people who do not read movie news often always get fooled into thinking the upcoming F&F is the last one. This movie was more of a tribute to Paul Walker and boy oh boy did they send him off with a bang. Most of the critics everywhere have given this movie an above average and that is largely due to the Paul Walker’s demise and so I feel that the ratings are a little skewed.

Finally stitching together the third film and its sequels, the plot takes you on a revenge game from the antagonist’s side. The Toretto-O’Connor family has developed over the years, and the sentimentality is all over the place, giving the plot a considerable dose of melodrama. But the past is back to haunt them as Shaw (Statham) is vowing to avenge his brother’s free-fall from that never-ending runway in the sixth film. Starting with an attack on Hobbs (The Rock), Shaw visits Dom and gang from time to time like he’s an insurance agent coming in for monthly checks. All he does is arrive, talk, shoot few bullets and throw beautiful grenades, and leave.

Jason Statham in 'Furious 7'
Jason Statham in ‘Furious 7’

Then the plot drifts to a side story about a hacker who is being pursued by a dumb marauder. Unfortunately the primary bad guy (Statham), as one can possibly detect, has very little screen time. I have noticed that with most of the previous films, the bad guys do not get a lot of screen time mainly because the story is focused on Toretto and his crew coming up with a plan and most of the movie time is spent on their execution. He is vindictive, agreed, but switching ON and OFF between the scenes is equivalent to a show without a villain. It mostly looked like that Dom and his gang are fighting and driving for nothing. That is confirmed when in the second half you see all of Hollywood crammed into one big setting, where all rules of science, logic, and common sense go take a hike. The second biggest problem with the plot is that Hobbs, who as an anti-hero changed the way the audience saw The Fast & The Furious series evolve, is left out. It was a delight watching him in the last two films, but in here, he is not even given his fair share of comedy. Tyrese may make you laugh with maintained humor, but he definitely overdoes it.

Vin Diesel in 'Furious 7'
Vin Diesel in ‘Furious 7’

However, fans expecting explosions WILL get explosions. After tanks and freighters, here we have flying cars and buses fit with machine guns. The action goes couple of notches higher, with breathtaking (is the right word) sequences helped by beautiful photography. The camera work is better due to the use of slow-motion stunts. The entire movie is a rollercoaster ride of emotions which finally ends with a long climax which would make any F&F fan extremely happy and satisfied.

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This movie should have been the ending of the franchise, and it would have been a pretty good end but since they plan on making more sequels, I am not sure what they can pull off, but this franchise never seems to amaze me as they always come up with something more cooler and outrageous, so until then, do check out this movie if you just want to have fun and be entertained.

Prem

Founder/Creator of Talking Films. Created Talking films back in 2009 and has been an ardent cinema lover for the past 2 decades.

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