WATCH THE TRAILER HERE
Fright master James Wan (“Insidious 1 & 2“, “The Conjuring“) takes the driver’s seat in this 7th installment of the high-octane “Fast & Furious” franchise, and does it with all the bombast one would expect and, be honest, fawn over. Following the events in London in “Fast 6“, all the members of our intrepid team have tried their best to each find their own peaceful lives to carry on in. But, the revenge-minded big brother of last film’s villain Owen Shaw (Luke Evans), Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham), makes his presence known rather strongly against several of them including Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) and Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel). Dom ultimately gets recruited along with the rest of the “family” including Brian O’Connor (Paul Walker), Letty (Michelle Rodriguez), Roman (Tyrese), and Tej (Ludacris) by a government agent, Mr. Nobody (Kurt Russell), who offers them a deal to retrieve a stolen piece of highly secretive property in return for helping the crew track down and stop Deckard. Spanning the globe to exotic locations such as Tokyo, perilous European mountain regions, and Abu Dhabi to back in their home base of Los Angeles, Dom and his team enlist the aid of old allies as well as a new one in hacker Ramsey (Nathalie Emmanuel) who is herself being pursued by an African warlord and ally to Deckard, Jakande (Djimon Hounsou). As all those involved ultimately collide, it’s up to the steadfast determination and loyalty of Dom and the group to defeat Shaw and ensure everyone comes home alive.
What else can you say about this film except that it most certainly delivers everything any viewer whose followed this mega-successful franchise would desire, and does so in spades. Each film, especially entries 4, 5, & 6, has found a way to get even more over-the-top in its action and stunts and one would think it couldn’t get crazier. Well, folks, it does and it is one fun, escapist, full-throttle ride hitting on all cylinders. Raging and raw physical fight sequences to cars falling from the sky (and jumping between buildings!), the frenetic pacing of the story only slows down in very brief interludes to give us a rest from the chaos and attempt to engage in some actual character focus. But then again, character building really isn’t a key factor for this series. Everyone involved does their job, showing off their mad driving, fighting, and tech skills while giving us the beauty of foreign locations as well as the good ole U.S. of A. A thumping, rocking soundtrack accompanies the action constantly and it’s hard not to get all jacked up watching the frenzy unfolding before your eyes. Of course, the hardest hitting element ultimately is seeing the late Paul Walker in what became a final film of a tragically shortened life. Homage is very effectively paid to his involvement from the franchise’s beginning and the poignancy of his passing is not at all lost on or in this effort. In total, fans of the series (like this reviewer) will absolutely love “Furious 7” and find themselves pining for another one, which is already being talked about.
