By Rodrigo Valverde/reporter
With so much going against this movie after the tragic death of lead actor Paul Walker, Furious 7 still manages to deliver action-packed, fun entertainment that also pays tribute to Walker in the classiest way possible.
Fans of the franchise will really enjoy this film.
The film directly follows the events of Fast & Furious 6 with Dominic Toretto, played by Vin Diesel, and his crew trying to adjust to a normal life after eliminating the previous villain Owen Shaw until his older brother Deckard Shaw, played by Jason Statham, plots a scheme to avenge his brother.
Photo courtesy Warner Bros.
Predominantly known for horror films, director James Wan took over the reins of the franchise after Justin Lin opted not to return. While Wan did a fantastic job with this film, it doesn’t quite live up to the previous two installments.
Fast Five revitalized this franchise from silly, campy movies that only had to do with street racing into more serious action and heist films that appealed to wider audiences and made it a more solid franchise.
Wan manages to keep the same style and tone set in the previous two installments with the over-the-top action sequences and unrealistic stunts but also keeps the humor and the family aspect between Dominic and his crew, which is always a nice touch.
However, some dramatic elements the film could’ve done without, one being whether or not Dominic and Michelle Rodriguez’s character Letty belong together.
As previously stated, though, the family aspect is enjoyable. The chemistry between the lead characters is partly why these films have been so compelling recently, mainly because the actors have such a strong bond off-screen.
Dwayne Johnson also reprises his role as Hobbs, who unfortunately doesn’t have nearly enough screen time but steals every scene he is in. He also has some silly but memorable one-liners.
Statham played a good, menacing villain as well. He brought an intimidating presence to the screen that made him such a formidable adversary to guys as big as Diesel and Johnson. He may arguably be the best villain this franchise has seen.
With Walker’s death in 2013, filming had to be halted to figure out if and how they would continue production. Fortunately, with some rewrites and the addition of Walker’s brothers as stand-ins for him, they continued working on the film and retired Walker’s character Brian O’Connor.
An important thing the film deserves credit for is not capitalizing on Walker’s death when it came to the marketing. When the trailers came out, the studios could’ve emphasized that it was Walker’s last film and added potential for a bigger box office outcome, but they decided not to and deserve some praise for that.
The film has a nice tribute at the end that is emotional and beautiful. With a poignant monologue given by Diesel along with a fitting song playing in the background, the perfectly executed ending is sure to move audiences. That alone is worth the price of admission.
The film has quickly become the most successful of the franchise, earning more than all the previous films combined.
Furious 7 is a film fans of this franchise and newcomers will definitely enjoy and a great one to kick off the summer movie season.
