Starring: Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Jason Statham, Dwayne Johnson, Michelle Rodriguez, Jordana Brewster, and Djimon Hounsou
Distributor: Universal Pictures
Runtime: 137 mins. Reviewed in Apr 2015
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This is an American action film that is the latest movie made in the FAST & FURIOUS series that began originally in 2001. It is advertised under multiple titles, “Fast & Furious 7” and “Fast 7”. Most of its main stars have appeared in other films in the series, and the series derives its title through the fact that all of its characters live “fast and furious” lives. This movie continues the story-line of “Furious 6” (2013).
The impact of the movie is essentially built around its action and stunt sequences involving car chases, and automobile crashes. Like the films before it, the action is vigorous, aggressive, and always delivered with high energy and fierce intensity.
Two things are necessary to keep a series like this going. One is locating a plot that is interesting and holds attention, and the second rests in the novelty and quality of the film’s special effects. The first of these depends on the ingenuity of the scriptwriter and the director, and there is enough continuity in this movie to carry the day. The second is more problematic. Special effects these days, especially in high-action movies like this one, are very sophisticated and hard to beat. The visual effects behind the stunt sequences in this movie are amazing.
Plot-wise, the continuity of the movie holds interest. The villain of “Furious 6” was Owen Shaw, who was hunted down and left for dead by Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel). Dominic and his crew, including Brian O’Conner (Paul Walker), Luke Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) and still-amnesic Letty Ortiz (Michelle Rodriguez), want their lives to be more normal, and return home to the United States, where Paul’s wife, Mia (Jordana Brewster) and son are waiting. They think their job has been done. However, Owen had an older brother, Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham, new to the series), who wants revenge for what was done to his brother, and he is bent on pay-back. Deckard wants to ensure that “vengeance hits home”.
Dominic and his team decide to find Deckard, before he finds them first. To complicate the story-line, and to supply even more action, there is a terrorist-mastermind, Jakande (Djimon Hounsou), on the loose. Plot complexity increases further as an expert hacker is introduced, and the film criss-crosses cities and countries in its adventuring and moves from London to Los Angeles, then to Monte Cristi, Azerbaijan, Tokyo, Abu Dhabi, and finally back home to Los Angeles.
In regard to special-effects, the movie very much holds its own, and the stunt sequences in the movie are astounding. They are well-choreographed, well photographed, and exciting to watch. There are three startling sequences well worth waiting for. The first shows fast cars being parachuted out of a cargo plane while the drivers in them are buckled into their seats. The second shows a stand-off of cars on a perilously winding road around a cliff’s edge, and the third shows a super-car travelling high speed “inside” one of Abu Dhabi’s enormous skyscrapers. The final action-sequence in the movie takes place in home streets where the team is pursued by an armed drone amidst collapsing pavements, exploding cars and buildings, and falling bridges.
Characteristic of the series, the film has virtually no focus on character development. Nor does it have any subtlety in plot-line or narrative, and its visual effects are more for effect than relate meaningfully to its story line. All the action sequences emphasise massive car carnage and property destruction.
For fans of the series, however, the film will not disappoint. The film, which is the last in an un-stoppable series’s, is dedicated to Paul Walker. It has been produced with incredible energy, and James Wan’s direction is aimed squarely at “true-blue” fans. The series as a whole is very popular and this film is particularly special to its fans because it is the final appearance of Paul Walker who died tragically, and ironically, in a high-speed sports car crash in November, 2013, while making the movie.
To enjoy this movie requires giving oneself over to the fantasy elements of a highly predictable set of films. That means trying not to be distracted by alternative, rather more realistic messages, like “Speed Kills”, associated with Walker’s tragic death. But the film’s stunt sequences are spectacular and literally take one’s breath away.
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