Director - James Wan
Cast - Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Dwayne Johnson, Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, Ludacris, Jordana Brewster, Jason Statham
FURIOUS 7 is the final instalment in the FAST & FURIOUS franchise, and Paul Walker's final film. Dominic Toretto and his crew are back together for one last adrenalin fuelled adventure that kicks off with the funeral of a beloved crew member Han.
Han's death is the result of a revenge killing by Shaw's older brother Deckard (Jason Statham), which was the final scene of the previous film FAST & FURIOUS 6. Deckard is now on a mission to kill all of Toretto's 'family' and he is not about to let that happen.
A welcome addition - Statham is the vengeance fuelled Deckard Shaw
What ensues is an action packed, adventure to see who can catch who first. It brings all our favourites together, including Dom, Brian, Tej, Roman, Lettie and of course Hobbs (Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson) and I loved every cliched, unrealistic, CGI laden moment of it.
Johnson using a drone weapon to belast a helicopter out of the sky because why the hell not?!
I am a huge fan of the franchise (with the exception of TOKYO DRIFT, I could take that or leave it), and I was saddened by the news of Paul Walker's death during the making of FURIOUS 7. Ever curious, busy body that I am, I spent a lot of time trawling the web to see what director James Wan was going to do about this little predicament and I was not disappointed. Killing Brian off would have been a travesty, and I am mighty pleased that didn't happen. Wan even said in an interview that if that was what the writer's were planning to do then he didn't think he could continue making the movie! Go Wan! Walker's younger brothers Cody and Caleb stepped in as body doubles, with Paul's face CGI'd onto their bodies for some of the final scenes, and the way they wrote him out of the franchise was lovely, even if it was cliched!
As with all of the films in the franchise the ending is open enough that if they did want to keep milking the cash cow, they probably could, although without Walker I dare say it would never be the same. Deckard Shaw is not dead, just locked up, and the rest of the crew is still in one piece, and we know how they all love a bit of drama in their lives!
From jumping suped up cars out of carrier aircraft, to passengers jumping between cars at high speeds, to driving a squillion dollar car between 3 skyscrapers, Furious 7 has enough action in it to keep every adrenalin junkie satisfied. I particularly liked the car driving through the skyscrapers myself.
let's all reverse our cars out of an aircraft carrier and hope that our parachutes work!
My SO thought it was dumb that they put all the mushy, love stuff in there, but I have to disagree with him. As mushy and gross as it is, it is a draw card for the female audience. You know the ones that might not necessarily go in for the fast cars and explosions no matter how much their SOs beg them. Not to make any gross generalisations here, because I am a girl and I like all that stuff and I know plenty of girls who are the same, but I also know plenty of girls who like the franchise because of the romantic and family based story lines, and the cute boys.
The script is corny, the CGI is obvious but incredible, the stunts are unrealistic and so far fetched that at times they are simply hilarious, the fight scenes are obviously choreographed, and the ending is a happily ever after with a slight hint of sadness. As far as quality cinema goes, this is not a film that will go down in history as an incredible piece of cinema, but as a satisfying end to a franchise that has a huge fan base and that I love dearly, it is outstanding.
Brain (Walker) jumping from a speeding car onto an armoured bus = gold
The carefully crafted ending that sees Brian and Dom go for one last ride together and then go their separate ways was lovely (cliched like everything else in this film, but lovely nonetheless), and the tribute to Paul Walker at the end of the film was very sweet - do stick around to see some of the best shots from the previous films.
If you are a fan of the franchise and can take it for what it is then I'm sure you will love it. If you're after the next best film nominee then perhaps FURIOUS 7 is not for you. The speeding cars, explosions and incredible soundtrack may not have the same effect on a TV screen at home, so if you like the franchise then I would recommend paying the 20-something dollars to go catch this on the big screen.
3.5 out of 5 for this lovely, adrenalin fuelled, cliched mess.
xoxo
The Blonde Bombshell
