Furious 7

Furious 7 feels like the end of an era.

Furious 7

Feels like the end of an era

Furious 7 opens with Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham), brother of Owen Shaw, the villain from Fast & Furious 6 visiting his brother in the hospital. He vows vengeance against those who put him in a coma. Turns out Deckard is a former Black Ops operative gone rogue. He exits the hospital which is obviously in ruins from his rampage. Why he should want to damage the hospital and staff that are trying to save his brother is the kind of pesky question you don't ask in this movie, and it pretty much sets the tone for everything that follows.

After breaking into DSS Agent Hobbs' (Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson's) computer one night, Shaw gets into a fight with Hobbs, putting him in the hospital. When Dominic (Vin Diesel) visits him, Hobbs unofficially authorizes him to hunt Deckard down and kill him. But when Dominic does meet Deckard, a covert military squadron led by Mr. Nobody (Kurt Russell) appears and Deckard escapes.

I know what you're thinking - Vin Diesel, The Rock, now Jason Statham, and Kurt Russell, is this a The Expendables crossover? Well, actually, it probably bears more in common with that franchise that it does with the earliest The Fast and the Furious films. And in retrospect, that was probably a wise decision. Halfway through filming lynchpin cast member Paul Walker died (not on set, but in a car crash of all things), meaning that for the franchise to continue (and of course it will continue), it necessarily needs to evolve to something less centered on the Brian/Mia-Dominic/Letty framework.

With a funeral for Han, major development in both Brian/Mia and  Dominic/Letty's relationships, and extremely beautiful goodbye between Dominic and Brian - a montage that works both as a retirement of Brian's character, and a eulogy for actor Paul Walker - the film ties up loose ends going all the way back to The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift,  closing out a seven film story arc, and what feels like the end of an era.

The Good:

• The best Fast and Furious feature since the original The Fast and the Furious
• Filmmakers did an excellent job of salvaging the film after Walker's death

The Bad:

• For a film with the line "cars don't fly", there are a lot of flying cars
• The Rock gets very little screen time
• Gisele (Gal Gadot) is noticeably absent

Stuff to watch for:

• archival footage of the long absent Tokyo Drift cast
• the destruction of a rare Lycan Hypersport sports car
• Three members of the cast of Guardians of the Galaxy appear in the film, there is an in-movie reference to The Hulk; Kurt Russell would also go on to appear in Guardians of the Galaxy 2.
• Ronda Rousey v Michelle Rodriguez

The Verdict: ***1/2 out of *****