Movie Review – Furious 7

In this seventh installment of the uber-popular action series, Furious 7 is forced to deal with emotional situations both on and off camera. A tragedy struck the cast, crew, family, friends and fans of the franchise when Paul Walker was killed on November 30, 2013. Walker was leaving a charity event with friend and business partner, Roger Rodas when a Porsche driven by Rodas violently struck a concrete lamppost and two trees at high rate of speed. The Porsche caught fire and both men died at the scene. Film production for Furious 7 which had been more than half finished decided to go on an indefinite hiatus for obvious reasons. Eventually the decision was made to push forward. Paul’s two younger brothers, Caleb and Cody stepped in to lend their likeness in filming the remaining scenes. In addition CGI technology was used for the final touches in order to complete the process.

Furious 7 is a merging point between what happened in Fast & Furious 6 as well as events from 2003’s Tokyo Drift. Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham) is out for bloody revenge in the name of his little bro Owen (Luke Evans) after Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) took him down with the assistance of Dom (Vin Diesel), Brian (Paul Walker) and their crew. Deckard is like no foe the team has ever faced. It’s made abundantly clear that Deckard is playing for keeps. This fight is one of global proportions. The team is tasked with rescuing an individual who has technology that can track down anyone in the world, including Deckard. What’s the catch? This particular individual is being held by a group of terrorists who want this tech for themselves. Yes, this movie has more twists and turns than a twenty story parking structure.

While touching and necessary, the Walker scenes take away from the natural flow of the movie, especially the slow motion turns or lingering stares. The runtime is two hours and 17 minutes but I’m convinced if the entire movie was played at regular speed it would have been around only two hours. The other negative thought to throw out there is actual feasibility. I’m pretty gracious on my allowed amount of “yeah that couldn’t happen in real life” moments in a movie because, well it’s a movie. Director James Wan took that to an entirely new level in this one to the point of head shaking and outright laughing at some of the events that took place.

Is Furious 7 the best of the bunch? No. But it is still as entertaining as heck. In Fast Five I remember thinking just how epic the fight between Hobbs and Dom was. Then again we were treated to a title match as Fast & Furious 6 pitted Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) against Riley (Gina Carano – former MMA fighter). In this new one you can look forward to a double feature title fight. There’s Hobbs versus Deckard at one point and then Letty versus Kara (Ronda Rousey – current UFC champion) at another point. Those two fights right there are worth the price of admission. In addition to that we have the usual plethora of fast cars, impossible chases and nonstop insanity…with brief mushy moments. The franchise is quickly taking on an identity similar to that of The Expendables movies from a casting standpoint but that isn’t a bad thing. It’s great seeing so many recognizable faces within the same movie and also makes you wonder what’s next!

All in all Furious 7 is a must-see for a fan of the series and a should-see for those who crave fast cars, endless action, witty banter and/or a compelling story. Do yourselves a favor though and make sure you’ve seen at least one of the previous movies with the sixth installment being the most crucial at this point in the game. The more movies in the franchise you see, the better the odds are that you’ll enjoy your experience with this latest one. Start your engines and race to theaters today for your own thrill ride.