You have to know that no matter the quality of this film that fans will flock to see it. With the death of series regular Paul Walker towards the tail end of the filming it brought an almost reverent aura to Furious 7. Director James Wan (Saw, The Conjuring) taps into that feeling (and I don’t mean that in a bad way) with plenty of emphasis on how the group of regulars in the film are family and the ending scenes. Despite the fact that this is most certainly an action film it almost has that warm and fuzzy feel to it at the same time.
Speaking of the action it is everywhere. There are only the briefest of pauses for a little bit of story in between the hair raising sequences. James Wan makes sure that there are plenty of fights, shooting, explosions, and, of course, crazy driving scenes. I have to say that despite the fact that the action has a kind of helter skelter feel to it and that I wasn’t crazy into the film I still found myself tense and on the edge of my seat during most of the action sequences. Desired effect obtained. All this action takes place in different locales like Los Angeles, Abu Dhabi, Tokyo, and the Caucasus Mountains, so it is also visually appealing.
Of course, if you have seen the other six films you know what to expect in that you are not getting a British period piece nor the acting that comes along with it. Do not expect any character development, plot twists, or even any real attention paid to plot. The only time the characters really stop driving or fighting is to utter totally cheesy one liners. Dialogue so poor that you are more than happy when they stop speaking to start fighting again.
Dominic (Vin Diesel – Guardians of the Galaxy, Riddick) is forced to reassemble his team, including the estranged Letty (Michelle Rodriguez – Avatar, The Fast and the Furious), husband and father Brian (Paul Walker – Flags of Our Fathers, Eight Below), smooth talker Roman (Tyrese Gibson – Transformers, Death Race), and tech wizard Tej (Ludacris – The Hangover, New Year’s Eve), because they are being hunted down by former Special Ops agent gone bad, Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham – The Transporter, Snatch). Shaw is looking for revenge for what the team did to his brother (Luke Evans – Dracula Untold, The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies) in London.
Dom and the team first have to work with U.S. deep undercover agent, Mr. Nobody (Kurt Russell – Stargate, Grindhouse), to locate hacker Ramsey (Nathalie Emmanuel – from television’s Game of Thrones) and get their hands on a computer anti-terrorism program called God’s Eye. It won’t be easy finding Ramsey and keeping her because she is being help hostage by terrorist Jakande (Djimon Hounsou – Gladiator, Blood Diamond). They will use God’s Eye to locate Shaw.
Despite the fact that they say goodbye to Paul Walker with Furious 7 I would not be surprised if there is an eighth edition to the film series. Especially since I am sure that this one will bring in over $100 million.
Special Features:
-Digital Copy
-Deleted Scenes
-The Cars of Furious
-Flying Cars
-Tower Jumps
-Inside the Fight
-Talking Fast
-Back to the Starting Line
-Race Wars
-Snatch and Grab
-“See You Again” Official Music Video
-Making of Fast & Furious Supercharged Ride