Movie Review: Furious 7

Starring: Vin Diesel, Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnston, Paul Walker, Jason Statham and Kurt Russell. Director: James Wan 

In a few words:After losing one of their own , Dominic Toretto’s team must regroup and track down their latest adversary, a relative of one of their old foes, hell-bent on revenge. 

Kitch’s Rating: 8/10

BEWARE: SPOILERS AHEAD!

Whilst I don’t quite agree with Vin Diesel’s assertion last week that Furious 7, the latest instalment in what has become the most profitable action movie franchise ever – as you can imagine, rolling into this, it’s seventh go-around – would win Best Picture at next year’s Oscars, Furious 7 is definitely a great action film. Surely Diesel was joking, right? You’d like to hope so, but, no, he was apparently quite serious, but it’s hard to see the Academy agreeing.

Don’t fret, action fans. Just because The Rock and Vinny D likely won’t be making a speech and accepting that little gold statuette next February in Los Angeles doesn’t mean that this is a bad film. To be sure, it’s not an Oscar-winning film, but, as far as action romps go, this is a good one. I mean, what’s to dislike about a movie where you get to see some of the nicest cars, nicest girls and biggest action stars all in one place.

By now, you know the storyline: borderline illegal types working for the government to do something or other – really, it’s not important – and in the process of their given mission, they get to drive really nice cars really quickly, and stare at women in bikinis on beaches and at usually-illegal street racing events. It’s a tried and true formula, and, judging by box office takings and full cinemas, it’s not going to become a tired formula anytime soon.

The five hundred pound gorilla in the room this time around was the tragic death of star Paul Walker, who was a passenger in a Porsche involved in a horrible crash last year. By then, Furious 7 was halfway through being filmed. That meant a rather large re-write, and the use of both digital enhancements and Walker’s two brothers to complete the story, the last few minutes of which, fittingly, are a tribute to Walker, though, really, in terms of the storyline, to the character, Brian O'Conner.

Storyline? Oh yeah, there was one sandwiched in there between the great car chases. It turns out that the bad guy from the last instalment had a nasty big brother, Deckard Shaw (played with some menace by Jason Statham), and he wants to kill the team who took out his brother. As you do. Shaw comes close to blowing up O’Conner (Walker), his wife (Jordana Brewster) and Diesel’s Dominic Torretto in Los Angeles, and actually succeeds in killing Han Lue (Sung Kang). There’s a pretty cool slam-down between Deckard and Agent Hobbs (The Rock) that ends up putting Hobbs into the hospital, all busted up.

So, obviously, Toretto and the others are pretty upset that they’ve either nearly been killed, are in hospital nursing serious injuries and have all lost a friend. They vow revenge, and Toretto looks like he might get it during an underground run-in with Deckard before some government cronies get in the way, led by Agent Frank Petty (played with great, campy gusto by Kurt Russell) and allow Shaw to escape. It’s okay, though, because there’s some great technological marvel called God’s Eye that uses everything that’s electronic in the world to track people. Petty promises Toretto that his team can use it to track down Shaw. But first they have to get it and the hacker, named Ramsey, from the clutches of a terrorist group in the mountains of Azerbaijan.

The Pikes Peak Highway in Colorado stands in for alpine Azerbaijan, and is home to the best sequence in the film. I mean, when a set piece starts with Toretto and his team driving their cars out the back of a C-130 Hercules, you know it’s gonna be good, right? This series gets by on ramping up the stunts one film to the next, and between the scenes where the team rescues Ramsey, who reveals that the data card with God’s Eye programming on it was sent to Abu Dhabi.

Abu Dhabi, where the team crash a party hosted by a Jordanian price, and where cars turn into planes, soaring between the incredible Etihad Towers – yeah, really, and it was pretty cool, too – I have no idea where they go next. As ridiculous as it all is, it’s also a great thrill ride, shot with all the flashiness and injected with the usual fast-talking we’ve come to expect from this enduring franchise. You want to laugh at times at the absurdity of what’s going on, but for all it’s ludicrousness, it’s pretty exciting!

Leaving a trail of trashed vehicles in their way, God’s Eye is obtained, but Toretto’s team make enemies of the terrorist group who held Ramsey hostage, and, along with Shaw, they plot to kill the group back in Los Angeles, where a pretty serious battle rages on the streets, chewing through the LAPD’s compliment of squad cars.

Like I said, it’s ridiculous and unbelievable – especially when Hobbs, only a few days’ removed from a broken collarbone, literally busts out of his cast, hijacks an ambulance and later uses a mini-gun, in a scene that would’ve made Arnold Schwarzenegger really proud.

other obvious thing is what’s going to happen: you know Toretto and his team are going to win. They always do. Still, the confrontation between Shaw and Dom was suitably epic, and full credit to the guys who keep coming up with new and inventive ways to make the last showdown better than the last showdown from the movie before. The visuals make up for some pretty corny acting from all parties, courtesy of some pretty one-dimensional writing – but going to a Fast and the Furious movie for acting or writing chops is like going to a brothel for a hug, right? This is fun.

Going into the cinema, I was curious about how they would deal with the fact that Paul Walker won’t be around for future sequels. Obviously, O’Conner was going to be written out. How it happened might surprise you. Like I wrote above, the final few moments were basically a tribute to Walker as much as to his character, and after the last scene, a simple message ‘For Paul’ was displayed. It was tastefully and respectfully done. The preceding montage was a nice touch, too.

As for the future of the franchise without one of it’s foundation blocks…well, if people continue to flock to cinemas like they have in recent years, I’d say it’s in pretty good shape.