Review: FURIOUS 7

FURIOUS 7  (ACTION/ADVENTURE)
3 out of 4 stars 
Directed by James Wan
Starring: Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Jason Statham, Michelle Rodriguez, Jordana Brewster, Tyrese Gibson, Chris Bridges, Lucas Black, Kurt Russell, Dwayne Johnson, Djimon Hounsou
Rated PG-13 for prolonged frenetic sequences of violence, action and mayhem, suggestive content and brief strong language.
137 minutes
Verdict: The biggest and craziest installment in the series yet, FURIOUS 7 is full of insane, jaw-dropping action in exotic locations and provides an unexpectedly moving tribute to the late Paul Walker, even if the pacing is occasionally clumsy and it barely gets by in the script department.
YOU MAY ENJOY FURIOUS 7 IF YOU LIKED:
FAST & FURIOUS 6  (2013)
FAST FIVE  (2011)
FAST & FURIOUS  (2009)
THE EXPENDABLES 3  (2014)
THE TRANSPORTER  (2002)

Michael Bay, take note, the best major movie franchise for “dumb fun” out there today is Universal's Fast & Furious series, of which the newly released FURIOUS 7 is the biggest and craziest yet. It's not quite the "best" one to date, but is a strong runner-up to the series' 2011 installment FAST FIVE, which marked the emergence of what had been a dull teen-friendly exploitation series newly reformed into vehicular warfare/caper adventures.

FURIOUS 7 picks up immediately following the events of FAST & FURIOUS 6 (although those coming in clean should be able to get the gist of it easily enough), after Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel), Brian O'Conner (Paul Walker) and their crew of “extreme drivers” defeated international arms dealer Owen Shaw. Now Shaw's big brother Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham), a trained killing machine and rogue shadow agent for the British government, has made it his personal mission to kill all of the team that killed his brother, one by one. A government operative (Kurt Russell) offers to help Toretto and the crew take down Shaw first by finding the “God's Eye”, a surveillance technology with limitless applications that can help them find Shaw anywhere in the world, or help Shaw hunt down everyone one of them (and in a more socially/politically conscious movie would have been an opportunity to scrutinize the modern U.S. Security apparatus, but here is basically a MacGuffin).

FURIOUS 7 marks director James Wan's first foray into non-horror territory, following huge success with moderately-budgeted horror movies like SAW, INSIDIOUS and THE CONJURING, and taking the reins from Justin Lin, who had helmed the previous four in the series starting with 2006's THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS: TOKYO DRIFT. Wan's working on a far larger scale than he has before, but his talent for setup and payoff carries over to the benefit of the action, which has been pumped up to a scale unprecedented for this series, even if his broader storytelling is lacking cohesion. In the movie's most memorable sequence, the characters drive their fancy racing cars, reenforced like tanks, out the back of a airborne plane and skydive onto a mountaintop road, filmed for real with stunt drivers, because this franchise is insane. While the stunts and action choreography are top notch, much of the action is cut between differently placed characters with occasionally clumsy timing, but it's a forgivable offense in light of the typically enthralling onscreen mayhem.  More problematic is the fact that the two plot lines involving Shaw and the God's Eye never feel effectively intertwined, and one could easily be disposed of without seriously affecting the other.  It's true, no one should expect great storytelling from these movies, but FURIOUS 7 ranks as 'barely adequate' in the script department.

Dwayne Johnson, who was added to the cast in FAST FIVE to the enormous benefit of the series, has a smaller role this time around but makes the most of his obligatory appearance, while newcomer to the franchise Kurt Russell injects fresh life into the film's compendium of gear-heads with an energetic and self-aware performance that also serves as a reminder of just how rarely he seems to show up in movies anymore.  Of course the big question is Paul Walker, who famously died in a car accident in November 2013, partway through shooting, so that the production had to be postponed with his part rewritten and his scenes finished via a combination of stand-in actors (including Walker's own brothers, Caleb and Cody) and elaborate digital visual effects.  Digital faces bring to mind the less-than-convincing "Clu" played by Jeff Bridges in 2010's TRON, but the effects in FURIOUS 7 are remarkably seamless, with the only hint that something might have been created following Walker's untimely death being the nature of the scenes themselves.  It's no secret that FURIOUS 7 is Walker's send-off for the franchise, with scenes rewritten to give his character some closure, and while I was never a fan of Walker's work within or without this series, I think they nailed it.  As per usual with this series, the majority of intended emotional moments in this installment are cheaply manufactured and merely an interruption to the next action set-piece, but there's real feeling in Walker's surprisingly adept farewell, which smartly blends a comforting note for the character with an almost meta sensibility that provides the permanence of that note.

FURIOUS 7 is a little more touching that even casual or more cynical moviegoers may expect, but importantly, it proves that the series still knows how to jump the biggest sharks and having way too much fun doing it.  It's like the Mission: Impossible series' brother who may be big, dumb and uncouth, but he can throw an awesome party.  You may feel a little superior to the party, and even a little woozy, but hey, it was a fun party.

All images via Universal Pictures.