Furious 7 Movie Review

"I don't have friends. I got family."
-Dominic Toretto

It's very difficult to watch and review this movie without thinking about Paul Walker's death. Furious 7 was a goliath at the box office and there is no denying that fact. It's currently sitting in the 5th spot of highest grossing films and that is no easy feat. What is debatable is whether it deserves that spot or whether Paul Walker's tragic death was the catalyst for this outcome. The Fast and Furious series has always been the fun series that you watch with a huge tub of popcorn and check your brain at the door, and there's nothing wrong with that! Furious 7 is not the exception to that trend but there is inevitably this added emotional depth knowing that one of the stars of this franchise is no longer among us.

I've always enjoyed the Fast and Furious movies and I've also always known that they weren't the highest caliber films. But unlike the last couple of Transformers films, I could actually sit through them and not hate myself for it. The series definitely began to lose some steam, but once Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson who plays Hobbs joined the cast in Fast 5, the series had a nice revitalization. I think The Rock is hands down one of the best entertainers of my lifetime and whether he's in a good movie or a horrible movie, I can always enjoy his performance and unique charisma. He doesn't have quite as much screen time as he had in the previous two, but he delivers his lines just as The Rock does and shines in his action scenes.

Furious 7 picks up directly where Fast and Furious 6 leaves off. The bad guy from that film is unconscious in the hospital and his big brother Deckard Shaw, played by Jason Statham, is out to get revenge on the crew who put him there. This includes Dom, Letty who is struggling with gaining back her memories, Brian who is building a family with Mia, Tej, and Roman who is just as funny as ever. The main plot points alternate from the crew trying to catch Shaw and then avoid being killed by him, as he's a total ex-black ops badass who leaves nothing but bodies in his wake. But in classic Fast and Furious style, they manage to outsmart and of course out drive anyone in their path. The writers tried to revolve the film around a piece of technology called the "God's Eye" that makes it incredibly easily to track anyone, anywhere around the world. And if it lands in the wrong hands, well you can guess bad things will happen. I personally didn't have much interest in this part of the movie and just eagerly awaited the explosion and physics-defying stunts to ensue. Boy, did James Wan deliver on that front.

This seventh installment of the franchise surely delivered and hit the high mark with the action, stunts, and CGI. Paul Walker and Vin Diesel were on their A-games with their cheesy lines and jaw-dropping stunts. There were some scenes where I could do nothing more than shake my head and chuckle to myself at how ridiculous it was. But what this film does terrifically is not take itself too seriously. It knows how over the top it goes and plays into it perfectly and that's why I enjoyed it so much. To compare it once again to the Transfomers series, Bay actually tries to make those films be taken seriously when anyone can see that they're nothing but money grabs. Now I'm not saying the Fast series has a whole lot of depth to it, but to me its entertainment value outweighs its lack of substance. Between five cars parachuting out of a plane onto a mountain and one car soaring between three towers in Abu Dhabi, Furious 7 took the action scenes to the next level and I loved every minute of the ridiculousness. The brute strength fight scenes between Diesel and Statham were also super fun to watch along with Rhonda Rousey's small fight scene with Letty.

It's no secret that Paul Walker was mourned around the world and his death shocked everyone. He wasn't the best actor around but he was the face of this franchise alongside Vin and this was where he seemed to fit so naturally. After years and years of playing Brian O'Connor it's hard to imagine the franchise without him. This is why I disapprove of Fast and Furious 8, or whatever variation of those words this one will be called. I feel like enough is enough, especially after his death, but I guess business is business. Paul Walker died before he even finished filming Furious 7 so two of his brothers helped finish his scenes and they CGI'd Paul's face over them. Kind of creepy and kind of cool at the same time. The last five minutes of the film gave Brian a logical and heartfelt exit from the franchise and a warm moment between him and Dom. Along with the actual tribute montage for Paul, going back through the years and celebrating his impact on the franchise which was a huge tear-jerker. I can't imagine how the rest of the cast must have felt, working so closely with him for so many years. When all was said and done, I think Paul would have been very proud with the final cut of the film and I thoroughly enjoyed this summer blockbuster. I give Furious 7 a 7.5 out of 10.