The Fate of the Furious

Starring: Vin Diesel, Jason Statham, Dwayne Johnson, Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, Ludacris, Charlize Theron, Kurt Russell, Nathalie Emmanuel, Luke Evans, Elsa Pataky, Kristofer Hivju, Scott Eastwood, Patrick St. Esprit, Helen Mirren (uncredited)
Directed by: F. Gary Gray
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Action, Adventure
2017

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: The Crew faces their greatest challenge when Dom (Vin Diesel) betrays them and begins working for a dangerous terrorist (Charlize Theron).

Review:
Tim: It's pretty much a certainty at this point that you just have to accept the sheer lunacy of many of the stunts in the Fast and Furious franchise. The idea of adhering to some semblance of logic is way past as we're now at the 8th film in the franchise. I would like these movies more had they at least attempted to be rooted in realism. The sacrifice of believability for entertainment ends up hurting this film more than helping it.

I still can't believe this is the 8th film in this franchise. It's shocking, the longevity of this brand, especially considering all the changes, ups and downs we've seen here. To keep things fresh, this movie did make a big change. The differentiator here is that the story is about Dom seemingly betraying his friends and becoming an antagonist. On the plus side, this creates a new dynamic- Dom verses his Crew. We certainly have never seen this before. I suppose that new spin does help the movie, to a certain extent. The problem is that these movies are about family and Dom is clearly the patriarch of this contemporary family. When you remove him- truly, the glue who holds everything together- you're left with this odd hole. What is the Crew without Dom leading them? It's not nearly as fun or as interesting. This movie felt off, it felt lackluster because the best character in the story suddenly "turned bad". I simultaneously applaud the film for trying something new, while criticizing the film for what it chose to do. Truly, it just made this movie slightly less enjoyable. However, at least we're not complaining about the franchise getting stale! So, it's certainly a mixed bag.

The biggest thing this movie has going for it is that it assembles a remarkable cast. I actually like that the cast continues to get bigger- it helps to have so many good actors assembled here. Vin Diesel continues to be strong in this role. I'll never get tired of seeing him play Toretto. It's also good seeing Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, and Ludacris. They've been stalwarts of this franchise. Dwayne Johnson certainly adds so much to the franchise. His star power is essential. I loved having both Jason Statham and Luke Evans here. They add a really nice, different element to the cast. Charlize Theron makes a fairly good antagonist, and Kurt Russell's presence is always welcome. It felt insane to see Helen Mirren in a Fast and Furious film (albeit in an uncredited role). Really, this movie didn't deserve a cast this good, but it's one of the strongest features of the film. If you're going to perform crazy, ridiculous stunts in a wide array of vehicles, you might as well bring along as much talent as you can. Truly, the talent is what elevates this film.

The story is decent. Some of the surprises were a bit hard to swallow, but I appreciate the movie again trying to align with the idea that these movies are all about family. That's been one of the most consistent, important aspects of this franchise and this movie again taps into that. The action scenes are almost all absurd, but they're fun, too. The one saving grace is that when this franchise ventures into silly territory, it at least winks and smiles and fully embraces the absurdity. It's illogical, but at least it's fun.

This franchise enjoyed an expected resurgence with the fourth and fifth films in the franchise. That was truly unexpected. Since those two films, the franchise has been less effective, but at least consistent. Movies 6, 7, and now The Fate of the Furious were shockingly consistent- none of them were good movies, but they got closer than you'd expect. While I'd love for these films to solve some of their flaws and get better, it's a big win that these films haven't gotten worse. It's not the worst thing in the world to consistently deliver the same level of quality. The Fate of the Furious tries something different. If you're a fan of the franchise, I'm sure you'll watch and enjoy. If you're not a fan at this point, this film certainly won't change your mind.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 6.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: The Fast and the Furious, 2 Fast 2 Furious, The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, Fast & Furious, Fast Five, Fast & Furious 6, Furious 7