Furious 7 (2015) Review
Furious 7 (2015)
Director: James Wan
Screenwriter:
Starring: Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Dwayne Johnson, Michelle Rodriguez, Jordana Brewster, Jason Statham, Kurt Russel, Ludacris, Tyrese Gibson, Nathalie Emmanuel, Djimon Hounsou
Furious 7 is more than just a movie, it’s a farewell that transcends the screen and hits home with a huge dose of real-life right to the heart. Spoilers aside, the seventh instalment in the Fast and Furious franchise is everything you’d expect of it: it’s bigger, it’s more over-the-top, it’s better, and it does it all so tongue-in-cheek that you can’t help but to fall in love with it.
Director James Wan (Saw) had the nearly impossible task of putting together Furious 7 following Paul Walker’s untimely death. Both Cody and Caleb Walker, Paul’s brothers, stepped in to shoot for their brother and yet this transition seemed almost flawless, which is of huge testament to Wan and his team. Credit also has to go to Universal for not advertising this as Walker’s “last ride”, as in the current marketplace there would’ve been countless people rooting for such a sentimental form of promotion that Universal rightfully steered away from. Wan and the Furious 7 team handled Walker’s death tremendously well. Throughout the film it can’t be helped that a large amount of foreshadowing is part of your experience as a viewer, and the film plays on that, but it’s the send off they give Walker’s character Brian O’Conner that is truly wonderful – if you don’t have a lump in your throat after Furious 7, then you should probably go and get checked out by a GP because you have likely lost your heart.
Paul Walker/Brian O’Conner aside, Furious 7 delivers in much the same way that its predecessors have: there are over-the-top stunts, semi-unbelievable chase sequences, some top class one liners, and a whole load of gunfire. Furious 7 is an awesome example of how an action movie can be done right when it’s unapologetic for what it is. And, with stars such as Vin Diesel and The Rock heading the line-up, such an embrace becomes a beloved part of the viewing experience. While many of the movie’s better action scenes were somewhat spoiled by the trailer (that really does show too much), there are more than enough quips in the dialogue to keep you entertained and enough so-called “near misses” in the action sequences to keep you tense and engaged at all times.
A weak spot of Furious 7 was undoubtedly the lack of screen time afforded to Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, whose relatively minor role may have sent fans into moments of hysteria, but whose moments just didn’t come often enough for anyone to truly enjoy. In fact, there were countless moments where his absence from a scene led to the expectation that he’d show up, only for him not to, disappointing an expectant audience.
Furious 7 also seemed less focused than 5 & 6, too. With so much going on, the narrative became disjointed and often felt as if several different movies were occurring at the same time with multiple stories running throughout, somewhat diluting the main story arc regarding Dominic Toretto’s protection of his family from the super dangerous Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham). The main story arc seemed riveting enough to not warrant all that went on around it regarding Kurt Russell and particularly Djimon Hounsou.
Furious 7 is an event movie to top all but the very few biggest event movies of all time – Avengers, The Dark Knight, etc. – because you have to be there to say goodbye to the stalwart of the franchise, Paul Walker, on the big screen; and there isn’t any lack of The Rock, or any amount of convolution to the plot, that can take away from how truly enjoyable of a “be there” moment seeing Furious 7 is.
Probably the best studio driven pure action movie that you’ll see all year.
21/24
