Furious 7 critical review- by Jonathan Paula of MovieNight

Full text transcript of Furious 7 critical review

At least worldwide, on April 3rd, 2015, this ensemble action film from director James Wan was produced on an overextended budget of 250 million after the untimely and tragic death of Paul Walker transitioning from horror to action. One does a commendable job with the complicated production, which was hampered by unenviable rewrites and lengthy delays. There’s no doubt, though, this picture will rake in a huge profit. I’m personally predicting about a billion dollars as well as a few more sequels. The crew of racer’s turned robbers are now being hunted by Jason Statham, the vengeful brother of Six’s bad guy. Meanwhile, the PG 13 rated plot foolishly incorporates an overly technical MacGuffin into the mix, as well as Dimanche enhancer as a Somalian terrorist. It’s an unnecessary complication that doesn’t amount to much. Logically, the character motivations don’t make any sense either. The furious crew band together to help a shadowy government type played by Kurt Russell for the explicit purpose of tracking down Statham. But the British villain routinely shows up unannounced anyway, making the crew’s this for that responsibilities entirely meaningless. Vin Diesel once again leads the giant cast of meatheads, brawlers and drivers with what I can only imagine was the toughest role of his career. Forced to pretend like your best friend is running alongside you while simultaneously mourning his death could not have been easy for him. But his performance here lives up to the challenge, mourning a fellow character’s death diesel.

Paraphrase Scottish poet Thomas Campbell when he remarks, We live in the hearts of those we leave behind. It’s an inspirational quote that is an excellent fit for the film’s more sombre theme. He carries the picture to the best of his abilities. But the dual lead structure common in earlier installments is definitely missing here. Plenty of familiar faces return, with Michelle Rodriguez giving a heftier romantic subplot alongside VIN. But an early scene with a two reconnect over a visit to race was proved entirely pointless and likely should have been cut for time. And the already bloated one hundred and thirty four minute picture, the franchise’s longest sideline for most of the movie, Dwayne Johnson still gets a couple great scenes to really kick ass like his opening bell with Statham, which sees the two muscled up dudes tossing each other through seven separate pieces of glass. Speaking of Jason, he’s awesome as the villain, but similarly is given little to do besides shouting threats and punching people. He thought this was going to be a street fight. You damn right it is. Now playing a character literally half his age, Lucas Black returns for a single scene cameo that nicely connects some of the events of Tokyo drift into the fast universe. Newcomer Ronda Rousey, thankfully, only has a few short lines as her delivery is so God awful, they might just be the worst of the entire series.

These parties bore me to death. As for the elephant in the room, it’s bad enough that a series that continually deals with death and car crashes lost one of its own. And that exact situation, which makes Walker’s inclusion here in his final ever appearance so much more tragic. But thanks to a great deal of care and consideration from his friends and family, it never feels exploitative. Impressive camera trickery, CGI masking in body double work from his younger brothers. Caleb and Cody make his character’s inclusion near seamless rather than writing them out. Walker remains a presence in nearly every key scene. But often times it does feel like you’re watching a movie filmed entirely with stunt doubles, as none of his detailed close ups linger for more than a second or two of the more dramatic moments he did finish prior to his death. An emotional phone call with his longtime co-star Jordana Brewster, who’s especially well acted and may very well be one of the best performances of his abbreviated career, effortless in these quieter moments, as well as the bullet dodging destruction. It’s easy to understand why he was such a beloved actor instead of a cheap and perhaps inappropriate onscreen death. Paul’s charismatic and congenial memory is honored by allowing his character to literally drive off into the sunset. His co-star share dialogue that unabashedly alludes to their real life friends passing its heartfelt and positive without ever becoming too sappy.

After all the consequence free destruction and death defying stunts. This surrogate memorial that concludes the film is capped off with two simple words on a white background for Paul scored by the haunting Wiz Khalifa and Charley, both original. See you again. It’s a beautiful sendoff that definitely induces tears. I, for one, am going to miss this guy. As for the action, Furious 7 delivers in spades an insane stunt that sees Diesel and Walker flying. A supercar between the three adjacent Abu Dhabi skyscrapers is as amazing as it is unrealistic. Earlier, a skydiving car chase along the Colorado mountaintop is rife with nail biting thrills and giant collisions that culminates with a bus teetering on the edge of a cliff and a suspenseful moment reminiscent of a similar sequence in the lost world. Bouncing between these set pieces, though the movie lacks a definable purpose or direction, the lack of cohesion is certainly understandable given the extenuating circumstances of this film’s troubled production. But it doesn’t quite make it acceptable. The plot is a bit scattershot to characters aren’t always utilized correctly. But the impressive stunt work and touching tribute to Walker make this a must see for all fans of the series going above and beyond the scope and believability of previous films, Furious seven provides fantastic excitement that poignantly eulogizes one of its own. I thought it was awesome.