Like them or not, the "Fast & Furious" franchise has been raking in cash at the box office with every new installment. While they used to be the joke of Hollywood, a new focus on character and an embracing of the bizarre and over the top actions and stunts helped the franchise find new life with “Fast Five” and the following films have replicated that critical and box office success. Can this latest installment continue the streak, or is the franchise back to spinning its wheels?
Opening with a fun, but basically pointless race sequence in Cuba, fans know exactly what to expect. This is the franchise they know and love. Vin Diesel continues to gargle gravel for his earnest and scenery chewing performance as Dom and the rest of the cast delivers in exactly the ways you’d expect.
Nobody is expecting to win an Oscar, but they still keep the energy high, the quips flying and the collateral damage to the highest degree. Charlize Theron isn't seen much and that’s for the best. She isn’t bad, she just isn’t interesting.
Mr. Nobody, played by Kurt Russell, is thoroughly enthusiastic and entertaining. Jason Statham also returns and has that same anarchistic grin on his face that delivers a bravado big enough to stand up to Diesel and Dwayne Johnson.
Johnson is gleefully macho. Whether it’s teaching his daughter’s soccer team a warrior’s chant to intimidate the opposite team, or using lines like “I will beat your ass like a Cherokee drum,” he is one of the most enjoyable characters in the film. The same goes for Michelle Rodriguez and while she doesn’t get as many good lines, she still manages to be entertaining and engaging.
Collateral damage, as previously mentioned, is in full swing here. While nobody is jumping from skyscraper to skyscraper, there are still plenty of standout moments here. Sequences that counter the fire and bright colors of the cars against the Russian tundra are enjoyable, but the best sequence in the entire film, without spoiling, involves ‘zombie cars.’
The biggest issue and one that plagues almost the entire film, is that it lacks the spirit of the past movies. It feels like someone took the characters, quips, and set pieces and put them in a generic spy thriller. The anarchistic spirit that the past films seemed to have isn’t here. This leads to some cringe worthy dialogue when the plot actually wants to be told. The ‘crocodile in the water’ monologue from Theron is just…awful.
“Fate of the Furious” isn’t bad. Its action set pieces, quippy dialogue, and characters help to pad out a lackluster plot and forgettable villain. There are some great themes of family, it is a Fast & Furious movie after all and the last forty minutes are pure over the top action glee. But after a film as good as “Furious 7,” “Fate” is an enjoyable ride, just not a memorable one. 3/5
