2017: The Year in Film: "The Fate of the Furious" Review

Yep. Late. So it wasn't so long ago at all that I wasn't on board with the F&F franchise, AT ALL. See: The Fast and the Curious for more. But guys, once the Rock comes on board, these movies took the next step into the single most insane action franchise currently on the market. From humble beginnings as a derivative action racing movie set squarely in the awful culture of the late 90's/early 2000's this franchise has turned into a global phenomenon, with the last few entrants raking in huge box office returns both domestically and overseas. I must say that the color-blind nature of the films and international feel of the 5th, 6th, 7th and now 8th F&F films has really made them into one of the more global film franchises I can think of. Obviously Paul Walker's (R2D2Soon) passing was going to have a profound effect on the franchise, so how would the F&F series survive the untimely departure of one of its key cogs? Enter new director F. Gary Gray (who most recently directed Straight Outta Compton) and let's see if the series can survive.

Following the events of Fast7, our team finds itself amidst a much needed vacation. Dom (Vin Diesel duh) and Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) are on their long-awaited honeymoon and all seems well with the world. Right? Well... let's just say that high tech terrorists are NOT done with Dom Toretto and his motley crew.

The Good: No one does non-superpowered action as well or as preposterously as the F&F guys, and that's just as true in the 8th installment of the series as it ever has been. The ever-expanding cast and ever-increasing stakes may not have served the series all that well in the 7th installment, as I felt that film fell a little flat, but this film nicely draws on what's come before to build something bigger and better than we've seen thus far in the F&F series. Writer Chris Morgan has been with the series since Tokyo Drift, and that continuity has really served the series well during its transition from silly car racing dramatics to preposterous car action dramatics. The idea of motivating Dom to take on his increasingly-unstoppable team was executed well, and the events of 6 and 7 especially were tied-in nicely to create a neat little trilogy within the larger series. There are several action sequences that are insane even for this insane series, with Jason Statham especially bringing an even bigger and better element to what's already become just maybe the best action series out there today. Charlize Theron is always great, and she brings an effortless menace to the endeavor that makes me hope (and given what's happened in the series thus far I'm sure she will be) that she'll be back in future installments. After part 7 I wasn't sure if this series really needed to continue but this one was strong enough to set the series on a positive trajectory that absolutely justifies at least one more installment. And let's be honest, given just how much money this one has made both domestically and overseas, there will be future installments as long as Vin Diesel and the Rock feel like making them.





The Bad: things are just as preposterous as they've ever been, and the series misses Han, Gisele and Brian to be sure. The shrinking core group has required new additions to keep the ensemble intact, and while some of these additions (especially Statham) have been great, others have been misses, and the attempt to replace Paul Walker with Scott Eastwood in this one falls flat. The motivations of the characters are occasionally silly, and the omnipotence of the villains a little hard to swallow, but all in all this film is well worth watching for fans of the franchise, and a marked increase over part 7.

After 8, my ranking of the series goes as follows: 5, 6, 8. 7. 1, 3, 4, 2. For fans of the franchise, this one represents a return to form of the series since the Rock came in and turned things around. If you're a fan of the family, you won't be disappointed.

7.5/10.