The Fate of the Furious (2017) Review

 

Director: F. Gary Gray

Cast: Vin Diesel, Dwayne Johnson, Jason Statham, Michelle Rodrigez, Tyrese Gibson, Chris "Ludacris" Bridges, Nathalie Emmanuel, Scott Eastwood, Kurt Russell, Charlize Theron, Elsa Pataky, Kristofer Hivju

As we all thought that the seventh film would end the series, but as a very flamboyant mustached man once said, “the show must go on”. I didn’t know how they were going to continue without Paul Walker, but what I learned that before his passing Walker wanted three more Fast movies to happen after the seventh so Universal and Vin got his blessing. The series had transitioned to being a spy-esque franchise with the introduction of Kurt Russell’s character Mr. Nobody. James Wan decided not to return to direct as he found the production of “Furious 7” difficult and had all-ready signed on to direct DC’s “Aquaman”, so F. Gary Gray, who is best known for his work on “The Italian Job” remake and “Straight Outta Compton” was brought on board and I have to say is that I was not disappointed by this.

The film starts off with Dom (Vin Diesel) and Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) on their long-awaited Honeymoon in Cuba, they waited eight years for this. They then witness Dom’s cousin Fernando getting into trouble for owing money to a loan shark named Raldo, however Dom decides to race Raldo through the streets of Havana, Dom manages to beat Raldo, who then earns his respect. Following the events, Dom is confronted by a mysterious woman named Cipher (Charlize Theron), who forces Dom to betray his team and work for her. Afterwards Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) recruit Dom and his team Letty, Roman (Tyrese Gibson), Tej (Ludacris) and Ramsey (Nathalie Emmanuel) to recover an EMP device in Berlin. During the getaway Dom goes rogue, forcing Hobbs off the road and stealing the device. Hobbs is then arrested and is locked up in the same security prison in which he helped imprison Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham). Both Hobbs and Deckard escape the prison are recruited by Mr. Nobody and his junior associate Little Nobody (Scott Eastwood) to help the rest of the team find Dom. It’s revealed that Cipher was the one who recruited both Owen, Deckard’s brother to steal the nightshade device after Deckard declined and Jakande to steal the God’s Eye. The team then track Dom and Cipher before they both attack the base and steal the God’s Eye. The team then decide to track Dom down with help from Little Nobody and Deckard and bring him home.

The story does work for the film, in fact it does feel like the newest season of a favorite TV series where the previous bad guys are good and the good guys have gone bad. Yes this does sound almost negative but we all knew the stories could maintain the levels from the previous outings. The darker tone comes through in places but joke do seem to miss at times.

While I enjoy Diesel as Dom, I felt that Diesel did lack some of the range for the motivation behind his character, he just looked sulky for the most part and continues to show he hasn’t been improving on the levels of both Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham. I guess it was all because his beef with Johnson.

Despite his beef with Diesel, Johnson still manages to deliver a great performance as Hobbs. I liked his banter with Statham who looks to be enjoying himself in every scene he is in. Rodriguez gives the best performance in the franchise to date. Both Tyrese and Ludacris deliver good banter between one another, I liked Theron’s villain a lot better then past villains, just pure evil.

Scott Eastwood does a good job as the new addition to the team but he wouldn’t be my first choice to be a new member of the family, but I say fans feel that he will always get compared to Paul Walker. Its shame that he is not seen anywhere in “F9” but lets hope he’ll return in the 10^th and 11^th installments.

Helen Mirren has a great small, but memorable appearance as Deckard and Owens mother and look forward seeing more from her.

While I liked the character in “Furious 7”, Nathalie Emmanuel as Ramsey is the biggest disappointment when it comes to character but all we see that she is a passenger who does same as Tej. Good thing that Rodriguez came out and said that the franchise needs to give female characters more to do.

Lastly I was disappointed that Lucas Black didn’t make an appearance, thought he would join the team in this one. But Black said that he was unable to film scenes because his show NCIS: New Orleans, but good thing he’s back for part 9

The action sequences were fun in this, and I’m glad it’s back to practical work, while I liked the CG in the last movie I pretty much prefer practical all the way. If I had to choose a favorite it’s the finale in the snow with the military vehicles and the submarine. The locations, Cuba, New York and Iceland are fine and used creatively for the action, nothing there comes off bad.

Overall, this was not as good as Fast 5, 6, or 7, but still enjoyable to watch and when it comes to mindless action you can’t go wrong here.

Rating: 8/10