Furious 7 (2015) - Theatrical Review

Director: James Wan

Cast: Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Jason Statham, Michelle Rodriguez, Dwayne Johnson, Kurt Russell

Country: United States

Rating: PG-13

Run Time: 137 minutes

Furious 7 had more hype surrounding it than any other Fast and Furious film before it. The previous entry, Fast and Furious 6, ended on a cliffhanger that finally caught the franchise up with The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift and set up a revenge filled seventh entry. If that wasn't enough to raise one's anticipation, tragedy struck when co-star Paul Walker died in the middle of production. Fans and the studio themselves were all left wondering what would happen to Furious 7 now that Paul Walker had died. After a year long delay and numerous reshoots, Furious 7 miraculously made it to theaters completed. 

Many people are singing the praises of Furious 7 as both one of the best of the series and the ultimate love letter to Paul Walker. While I agree that the film is the perfect tribute to Walker, I disagree that the film is one of the best of the series. In fact, I would say that this is a big step down from the highs of Fast Five and Fast and Furious 6. I personally believe that many people are letting their feelings for Walker's passing cloud their opinion of the film. I don't mean to come off as insensitive, but I couldn't help but think of the infamous Game of Death debacle while watching this film. The plot presented here is one of the most confounding and nonsensical plots in the franchise's history. Whether this is due to the original screenplay or the rewrites that resulted from Walker's passing, Furious 7 is a confounding mess of a sequel that is purely an excuse for various set pieces. That being said, Furious 7 is still a fun blockbuster that delivers numerous stunt-filled set pieces and bids farewell to the beloved Paul Walker.

Walker takes one last ride with his final on screen performance.

Oh boy, the plot. Furious 7 easily could have been a simple and straightforward revenge film with souped up cars and explosions. After all, this is why I thought James Wan (director of the straightforward revenge film, Death Sentence) directed the film in the first place. Unfortunately, the plot goes haywire within the first 30 minutes and never finds its footing again.

After the death of two significant team members in Fast and Furious 6, Dominic Torretto (Vin Diesel), Brian O'Conner (Paul Walker), and friends find themselves in the crosshairs of Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham). Shaw wants vengeance for his brother's injuries during the finale of Fast and Furious 6. Before Shaw and Dom can throw down, Frank Petty (Kurt Russell) shows up and enlists Dom to help him find the God's Eye, a form of technology that allows one to locate anyone on the planet using cell phones and cameras. If Dom can get Frank the God's Eye, than Frank can get Shaw for Dom. However, Shaw repeatedly shows up to complicate Dom's opportunity to get the God's Eye every step of the way...which he needs to find Shaw...who shows up every time Dom tries to get the God's Eye anyway. Why do we have to put up with this ridiculous God's Eye plot when Shaw shows up every step of the way anyways!? You don't need the God's Eye Dom! Shaw always finds you! Just stand still and he'll show up!

This is Furious 7's biggest downfall: it's insane plot. It literally makes no sense whatsoever and I picked up on this during my first viewing, not after a second viewing or even hearing about the issue from someone else, so this isn't a minor nit pick. The only reason that the God's Eye plot is incorporated into the film is so that there is an excuse to transport our character's around the globe for various set pieces. I don't understand how Wan and screenwriter Chris Morgan could not have whipped up a more simplistic plot when the God's Eye is literally of no use to them. If Shaw keeps showing up, than they don't need this device to locate him! What ever happened to the basic revenge plot? This is not basic or simplistic at all. It is nothing but confusing, confounding, and convoluted. 

Diesel and Statham stare one another down.

This leads into the other major fault of the film: James Wan. I am sad to say it but James Wan is completely mismatched for this franchise. Even though I was excited for Wan's leap from low budget horror to big budget blockbuster, I didn't think that Wan would fail to understand the franchise as he did. Watching Furious 7 made me realize how accomplished a filmmaker Justin Lin was and how great his Fast installments were (installments three through six to be exact). Lin understood the franchise better than anyone else and knew how to balance the ridiculous excess with grounded character emotion and compact storytelling. Wan's Fast installment is plot driven from straight to finish, offering little to no time for the characters to breathe or act themselves until it comes time to say goodbye to Paul Walker. 

And even though Wan's installment is fast, fun, and entertaining, his failure to pace his action sequences well kills the film. That's the other problem with Wan, he knows no restraint. Lin's action sequences were short, compact, and edited in between lengthy character driven moments of his films. Lin understood restraint and knew that the action sequences would be nothing without significant character moments in between them. Wan on the other hand simply goes straight for the action and barely, and I mean barely, gives his characters a chance to act human in between the set pieces even though they launch their cars in between buildings and off of mountains.

Furious 7 is essentially three insanely long action sequences that run for far too long. Not counting small bursts of violence, the three massive set pieces of the film are a car chase down a winding mountain road, a vehicular heist inside of a skyscraper, and an all out war on the streets of Los Angeles. The all out war that ends the film must run for over 15 minutes. I didn't count, but I'll be damned if that isn't one of the longest action finales in cinematic history. I'll be honest by saying that the best action set piece in the film is the mountain road chase scene heavily advertised in the film's trailer. It's jam packed with stunts and a fight scene between Walker and Thai superstar Tony Jaa (Ong Bak), making his Hollywood debut. It also opens with our characters skydiving inside of their cars on to the top of the mountain, so you have to love that. There is also an awesome stunt where a henchman's car flies through the air and impales upon a spiked tree branch. It got a definite "oh!" out of me.

The furious team wind up in Abu Dhabi.

And while the Abu Dhabi heist in which Dom launches a car in between two buildings is pretty cool, the finale in which Dom and friends wage war against Shaw and generic bad guy Mose (Djimon Hounsou) is exhausting to watch. The sequence is filled with individual fights, shootouts, and chases that range from boring to exciting. There is simply too much going on in this finale to make sense of. Even the long awaited fight between Diesel and Statham, arguably two of contemporary action cinema's biggest icons, pales in comparison to everything else. I forgot to mention that there is a great fist fight between Statham and Dwayne Johnson at the beginning of the film as well. It completely slipped my mind. 

Still, there is some great visual eye candy in this finale, once again in the form of a fist fight between Walker and Jaa. This finale contains my personal favorite stunt of the film in which Jaa knees Walker into a door which they proceed to slide down a staircase on top of. It's absolutely awesome. Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) also shows up in the finale and steals the film from everyone else with some of the most hilarious and self aware dialog from the series yet. You'll be laughing along with Johnson once you see him snap his cast off like it's nothing. 

As far as the cast goes, all of the regulars do as fine a job as ever. Walker is unfortunately sidelined in favor of Dom's revenge plot against Shaw. I should probably mention that the digital effects and body doubles used for Paul Walker's incomplete scenes are pretty convincing. At least James Wan didn't resort to cardboard cut outs a-la Game of Death. Newcomer Jason Statham is great as the villain and adds a whole layer of epic bravado to the mix. Unfortunately, many of the supporting newcomers are completely devoid of character and barely even given names. Mosse is a generic villain, plain and simple, even though he is played by the great Hounsou. Jaa, an international action star in his own right, isn't even given a name or visual introduction. He simply appears on screen during the mountain chase. Rhonda Rousey also appears as a nameless bodyguard during the Abu Dhabi heist who has no purpose but to fight Michelle Rodriguez, a.k.a. one of the worst actors ever. Overall, I think the cast is very hit or miss despite their impressive international pedigree. Nobody tops The Rock though. He owns this movie for all of his limited screen time.

Nobody beats the Rock. I love this guy with all of my heart.

Despite all of Furious 7's pros and cons, the last ten minutes are the best farewell that anyone could have put together to honor Paul Walker's place in the franchise. It's rare, even unheard of, for a franchise featuring the same characters to last so long and to have one of their own die in real life. Therefore, Furious 7's farewell to Walker is one of the most meta farewells in cinematic history. Wiz Khalifa's "See You Again" is a beautiful farewell song for Walker that perfectly underscores the final scene in which Brian and Dom drive their separate ways. It's a fantastic visual to end on and arguably the best piece of filmmaking within the film.

I'm sad to say it, but Furious 7 is a mixed bag. Convoluted plotting, over long action sequences, and excessive computer graphics hamper the film from being as tight and grounded as the previous entries. However, few franchises do "fun" as well as Fast and Furious does. Therefore, you still get some blockbuster bang for your buck despite the film's flaws. Plus, Paul Walker's farewell tribute is a must see for fans of the series. A definite recommendation for fans of the series but a hesitant recommendation for the non-Fast fans. Even though I had major problems with the film, I could see it showing up as an honorable mention for the best action films of 2015 at the end of the year.

Rating: 6/10 - Furious 7 is a flawed sequel that properly pays tribute to Paul Walker.

Franchise:
The Fast and the Furious (dir. Rob Cohen, 2001)
2 Fast 2 Furious (dir. John Singleton, 2003)
The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (dir. Justin Lin, 2006)
Fast and Furious (dir. Justin Lin, 2009)
Fast Five (dir. Justin Lin, 2011)
Fast and Furious 6 (dir. Justin Lin, 2013)
Furious 7 (dir. James Wan, 2015)