The Case for More Furiosity

I have to admit, the end of Fast and Furious 7 brought a tear to my eye.  For a series that, as a rule, is as emotionally stirring as a particularly inert slab of concrete (that is, Vin Diesel) and relationships that have two dimensional depth, the final scene in honour of the departed Paul Walker was incredibly touching and wonderfully done. 

Of course, the rest of the film was utter nonsense.  But in a great way.

Jason Statham is the big evil this one, threatening to off all of Vin Diesel’s crew.  He succeeds with the Asian member (apparently this happened way back in F&F3 no that I have seen that one as there is no Rock in it) and then… well, attempts with everyone else.  However, despite his psychic ability to follow his quarry all over the world without any discernible way of identifying how he knows where they are going nor how he manages to get there and procure the equipment he needs. 

He is chasing the F&F Family while they are chasing Five Eyes tracking device constructed by a beautiful woman over whom all the single guys leer and drool for matters completely relevant to the plot.  Also relevant is hard drive installed into the base of one of the world’s rarest supercars which happens to be parked on the top floor of one of the world’s tallest buildings (as you do).  And also relevant is Kurt Russell.  Because.

The film is a lot of action, some dumb, but there is also a bit of dialogue that foreshadows Walker’s departure, which is quite cool.

However, totally uncool is the almost sidelined Rock.  Of course, considering the plot, it makes no sense for him to be involved in most of the action, but then when has that ever stopped him from being involved?  At any rate, near the end of the film, he pumps himself full of steroids, lathers himself up in baby oil, puts on his tightest size extra small Under Armour skin tight top and joins the fray in another case of psychic synchronicity and the action storyline, which was beginning to lag, picks up its insane pace one again.  

And that’s all there is to it.  It is a pretty awful film really, and not as much fun as the last two instalments, but the story itself is fun enough if you are not demanding too much besides macho nonsense, and to be honest, the final scenes in memoriam leave such an amazing and uplifting while at the same time sad sensation, it really does make the film seem so much better than it probably is.

Verdict: Fast and Furious 7 is a great tribute to Walker in all the ways the franchise made him and the rest of the crew famous: amazing cars, fast women, heart stopping and frankly unbelievable action, terrible humour, but with a sense of heart underneath it all.  I am sure the heart will be buried come the next sequel, but with this film, you know there is some sincerity underneath all the bollocks.  7 revs out of 10.