Movie Review: Fast and Furious 7

The Fast and Furious series is something of an anomaly to me. Usually, as a film series progresses, you find that with each passing instalment the quality deteriorates once franchise hits the 3rd or 4th mark. At that point, the inevitable reboot takes place.

Yet Fast and Furious has defied the odds in the most confident way. With each film, the action sequences have become even more bombastic and more unbelievable.

After watching “the family” drive their buffed up super cars out of a flying cargo plane (an A400M I believe, but I’m probably wrong), I can only guess that the next film will see Vin Diesel driving round the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, smashing into particles in an effort to defeat an evil Higgs Boson (portrayed by Jean Claude Van Damme or Chuck Norris preferably).

Series regulars Michelle Rodriguez and Vin Diesel – Copyright: Universal

It’s become the most unbelievable, stupid series imaginable. And yet, I can’t help but love it. I usually find myself hating films that demand the viewer leave their brain at home, but since Fast and Furious is so brazenly assured of itself, I can’t help but respect that and enjoy it for what it is, stupid cinema.

How can anyone not enjoy a film that sees Jason Statham playing an indestructible ex SAS soldier with a grudge.

How can anyone not enjoy a film that features a car being driven by the aptly named Vin Diesel through 3 skyscrapers?

How can anyone not enjoy a film that features Michelle Rodriguez in a glamorous ballroom gown, beating up a team of highly trained security guards?

How can anyone not enjoy a film that features Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, firing a Gatling gun at a heavily armed helicopter in Los Angeles? I mean, how much more manly can this series get? After that sequence, the answer is none! None more manly!

Dwayne Johnson – Copyright: Universal

Of course Fast and Furious 7 has a tragic undercurrent running through it – namely the presence of the late Paul Walker who sadly passed away midway through the film’s production.

If it wasn’t for the knowledge of the actor’s death, his character would feel pretty sidelined. However, director Justin Lin and his team have done a respectful job in tying up his character’s arc, and the inevitable and deserved tribute to him at the end is tastefully done.

Of course, if you’ve not enjoyed the previous Fast and Furious films, then this instalment is unlikely to change that.

However, as far as I’m concerned with it’s perfect balance of high octane action, soap opera plot (it’s all about the family) and humour, Fast and Furious has gradually become the guilty pleasure it’s ok to like.