Let me preface this by saying that the first part of the review will be spoiler free. I want to do my usual thing, but I wanted to make some comments about the series as a whole and how it all ended. So after the review there will be a warning and then I’ll dive into spoiler zone. Keep in mind that I’m writing this review assuming that you’ve seen the first six Fast and Furious movies because I will be mentioning parts of the plot from the previous ones. You’ve had since 2013 when Furious 6 came out so if you haven’t seen them yet, then what are you waiting for?
Furious 7 had been much anticipated not only because of the passing of Paul Walker but because ever since Fast Five, the series found new direction and new life. I wanted to go see it with my group of friends but last time I waited for them to see a big movie it ended up being over a week. So fear not, dear readers, I went to see this movie on my own and sat awkwardly between two, count them, two groups of dbag kids. So what did I think of the seventh and possibly final chapter in one of the greatest over the top action packed series that has ever graced the silver screen? Here’s my review.
Furious 7 starts out running and, besides a few breaks to develop the plot, it only stops to hit you with a huge case of the feels. This movie was fantastic and true pleasure to watch. As I type this I’m racking my brain and trying to figure out what my final score would be. This one takes place after The Fast and The Furious: Tokyo Drift. Confused? Let me catch you up… briefly. One and two happen and the four reunites the group when Bian O’Conner (Walker) needs Dominic Toretto’s (Vin Diesel) help to stop a drug lord. 5 and 6 happen and then after that, Han (Sung Kang) goes back to Tokyo where he gets wrapped up in troubles there and eventually is killed. Furious 7 steps in right as 3 is ending. There, caught up?
Furious 7 took exactly what the fans wanted and were expecting and took up to another level entirely with stunts that are as impossible to pull off as they are fun to watch. I’ve always been impressed with how self aware the franchise is and how they know they’re known for ridiculous over the top action and they provide it in spades. The movie sticks to it’s guns… well… cars, and doesn’t stray too far from what we’ve come to expect from the franchise but you know what? That’s okay. Not every movie has to push some sort of envelope. In fact, if Furious 7 tried to do anything else it would have come off as fake and disappointing. All the obligatory marks were hit. There were loud hip hop songs, scantily clad women, Vin Diesel and Dwayne Johnson in revealing shirts, tuned up cars, high tech gadgets, and plenty of nods to the importance of family.
I did have a few complaints about the movie, but they’re minor. The first is Kurt Russell’s part in the story. I would very much have liked to see it fleshed out a bit more. But on the other hand, maybe he was meant for more, back when an 8th movie was a sure thing. Another complaint is I wished they used Tony Jaa more. His role was basically just a nondescript Asian bad guy who knows martial arts. Also there was one scene in particular where the CG was of poor quality. I don’t want to say bad because it wasn’t, it was just noticeable. And lastly, remember where we left off on Furious 6? Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) had amnesia? It comes up and it affects the plot at points, but her character isn’t developed much at all. But in the end, developed or not, we know her character, we know all these characters. So that’s it, those four things are the only problems I had with the movie.
Okay, back to what was great. Kurt Russel and Nathalie Emmanuel (Missandei in Game of Thrones) were a nice addition to the team and and left the great chemistry between the group unaltered. Jason Statham was a fantastic bad guy who felt more like the handsome yet terrible offspring of The Terminator and The Nemesis than he felt like Owen Shaw’s (Luke Evans) brother. The driving was impressive, the cars made me drool almost as much as the women did, and Furious 7 never lost sight of it’s mantra that I mentioned earlier, Family first. As you could see from the previews, this movie is about Deckard Shaw (Statham) coming after Dominic Toretto and his family for what happened to his brother at the end of Furious 6. I also noticed that Furious 7 kept true to the kind of cars the characters usually drove. Toretto was always in American muscle and O’Conner stuck with Japanese cars. Deckard Shaw, on the other hand, almost always drove European luxury cars.
The stunts were great and the CG was so good that I was able to believe Paul Walker really was running up a bus as it fell off a cliff and Michelle Rodriguez was drifting near the edge so he could grab on to her spoiler. Even though the main characters have plot armor, it’s still thrilling to watch them in deadly situations. I think that’s one of the best aspects of the franchise. Their stunts are over the top, their situations are ridiculous, but they’re so fun to watch and their so well done that we can suspend our disbelief enough to sit back and enjoy a fast moving, hard hitting, action movie.
Furious 7 was a fantastic final movie in the series and a beautiful send off to the late great Paul Walker. What was truly impressive about this is that it would have been a good movie had Walker not been tragically lost and the franchise was going to continue as planned. I would have loved to be sitting in the theater one day watching Fast 15 but that’s just a dream. Seven movies is all we get and thankfully they ended on a strong note. I LOVED Furious 7 from the opening scene to when the lights came on at the end of the credits. If I ever meet any of the actors, produces, writers, and crew I’d want to thank them for providing me with laugh and thrills for years and for giving me one of my favorite movie franchises of all time. This movie was amazing and emotional and other movies should take note, this is how you produce a fun movie franchise.
Furious 7 and the whole Fast and Furious franchise gets an 11 out of 11
Okay folks, after the poster below I’ll begin my spoiler section. So turn away now if you haven’t seen the movie yet.
One thing I would have liked to see was more from Lucas Black who was Sean Boswell in The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift. The third installment wasn’t the most popular, but I still liked it and how they worked it into the story as a whole. Boswell owed Han a lot and I would have liked to have seen him at least offer to come along to find Hans killer. It would have been fine if Dom had just said no, that way at least Boswell asked.
There was one problem I couldn’t mention above but it still wasn’t enough to bring the movie’s rating down at all. When Letty is telling an unconscious and maybe dead Dom that she got her memories back, I didn’t feel like it was earned at all. It just happened. I would have gladly sat through a longer movie for just one scene where it shows Letty having a flashback or just acting like she is to imply that that’s when she got it all back. Also I want to know whats going to become of them in the end because Dom is taking off without her. I realize it had to be like that for the ending to be as touching and as beautiful was it was. It had to be Vin and Paul alone, the brothers diving off. But couldn’t the writers have had her mention something like “I’ll meet you in Rio” or “I’ll see you back home?”
The ending got me. It really did. I was a teary mess. When Toretto and O’Conner were driving off side by side and the road they were on split and Toretto kept going off into the distance as O’Conner disappeared into the hills, that was it for me. I couldn’t have dreamed for a more beautiful ending to the series and it was such a perfect send off for a man that, as it turns out, was a down to earth, kind, and loving human being. I’ll need to watch the movie, or maybe even the whole series, again to understand why Dom was leaving , especially after all his talk about the importance of family, but even with that question hanging over my head, it was still a perfect ending.
The song written by Wiz Khalifa titled See You Again was beautiful, more so than I’d ever expect from him and it was just the right song to play in the end. I bought the soundtrack but I’m not sure if I can ever listen to that song again without crying my eyes out. Even though Brian O’Conner lives, the movie did such a good job of hinting that Paul Walker is no longer with us, that it broke my heart. The credit at the end “For Paul” was great. It was simple and those two words said more than a whole paragraph could have.
I loved this movie if you couldn’t tell. It was enjoyable and emotional. It was everything a movie should be.