Furious 7

Starring: Paul Walker, Vin Diesel, Dwayne Johnson, Jordana Brewster, Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, Ludacris, Jason Statham, Kurt Russell, Djimon Hounsou, Lucas Black, Nathalie Emmanuel, Luke Evans, Tony Jaa, Sung Kang, Ronda Rousey, Iggy Azalea,
Directed by: James Wan
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Action, Crime, Thriller
2015

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: The gang must come together in a fight for survival when Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham) seeks revenge for his brother.

Review:
Tim: It's incredibly difficult to fully comprehend Furious 7. It's the 7th film in a bizarre franchise that never seems to follow the typical franchise rules. Plus, the heartbreaking and shocking death of one of its stars cast a strange cloud over the whole production. This feels like a film you could spend hours unpacking. I'll just say that the film is exciting and intense, but unrealistic and often absurd. It's a decent film designed to make a lot of money.

I should start with the death of Paul Walker. It's so incredibly sad and threatened the very existence of this movie. He had filmed quite a few scenes but still left a lot undone. The producers decided to move forward with the film and used a combination of his brothers as doubles for Walker, and special effects to insert him into the film. It was all done as a touching tribute- indeed, the finale of the movie is quite heart-wrenching and a fitting tribute to him. And yet, it is clearly a disruption on the film. There were scenes with his character when it's obvious it's not Walker, and there were other scenes that felt a bit disjointed from the rest of the movie (partially because they pulled from deleted scenes from other movies). The touching tribute at the end, showing scenes of Walker throughout the franchise is powerful, but in the context of the film, feels out of place. His character (SPOILER ALERT) doesn't die, so it seems weird they'd spend so much time on him as he drives off into the sunset. Now, these are all minor faults- everyone involved with this production was dealt an untimely, shocking blow with Walker's death. I do believe they did the best they could with what they had. I don't fault them for it, but the reality is that it gives this film an odd feeling to it.

While Walker's death is always present behind-the-scenes, this movie is about more than that, so let's get to the film. I don't know if there's ever been a franchise with a crazier naming structure. There's no rhyme or reason to it. Out of the six sequels, only 4 have the number of the film in the title. 1 of the sequels doesn't have the word "furious", and this is the first film in the franchise without the word "fast". It's kind of cool, but just so unexpected.

It's pretty apparent the formula this franchise is following now- the utmost priority is to tell an exciting, intense, action-packed story. Nothing else is as important, including logic, realism, believability, etc. This movie delivers some high octane thrills... at the expense of anything seeming even remotely plausible. It's an interesting trade off and one that is on full display here. I won't go into the dozens of examples, but I'll provide a few. At one point, the crew drive cars out of an airplane, deploy parachutes, and land their cars on a two-lane highway. How the hell were they supposed to control their drop and ensure they land where they expected to land? It's totally idiotic, but it's exciting. We also see a character climb from one car to another while both cars are sliding sideways at some ungodly speed. It's beyond impossible, but again, it's a pretty intense sequence. Over and over again, this movie asks us to believe the most outlandish stunts are possible. It helps create this exciting, enthralling movie experience. It also ruins that experience by constantly reminding the audience that everything we're seeing is ludicrous. It's like the film takes one step forward by delivering great action, but two steps back because the action isn't rooted in any kind of realism. That ends up hurting the movie over the long haul.

The cast is once again good, but some choices were a bit questionable. Vin Diesel is obviously the biggest draw and it's great fun seeing him go toe-to-toe with Jason Statham. That's one of the highlights of the film Statham makes a fun villain. Paul Walker was fine in his scenes, but every second of his screen time was so sad that he never really felt like a part of the story. Dwayne Johnson's presence was badly needed, yet he spends most of the movie on the sidelines. That was a major drawback for me. This franchise needs more of Johnson, not less like we got here. Kurt Russell was a great addition to the cast and it was fun seeing him in his small supporting role. Tyrese and Ludacris are fine as usual. Jordana Brewster didn't have a lot to do, partially because of the limited screen time for Walker. Djimon Hounsou is always a great add and I enjoyed his inclusion here. Michelle Rodriguez was good and I'm glad they were finally getting back to resetting her character. The absence of Sung Kang and Gal Gadot was felt, although I loved the ability to tie Lucas Black back into this franchise, even if it's just for one scene.

So, while there are some very entertaining action sequences and just insane car stunts, the movie strays too far away from the plausible. The best films in this franchise pushed that envelope a little bit, but we were still able to suspend our disbelief. In an attempt to make every film bigger and bigger, the franchise has lost its connection to reality. Now, this does make for an exciting time, but it's a hollow win. It sounds like they're going to do one final trilogy of films, so I sincerely hope those involved make an effort to ground these films just a bit more in reality. Furious 7 is a decent film, and given the production challenges, it's a minor miracle it came off so well.

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