THE FATE OF THE FURIOUS acts as a larger metaphor for the series. What starts as a film with a straightforward car race in the streets of Cuba gets hijacked by a larger plot involving world domination. Nowhere in sight is the car culture film that was first established in 2001 – it’s grown to be a global phenomenon and with that comes higher stakes and bigger spectacle. If you enjoy the series because of the characters and their journey, then you won’t mind the fact that each sequel drifts further and further from the POINT BREAK formula of the original. If you like the series for the car porn, street races, and girls posing next to them, then you will be disappointed in the direction that the eighth entry continues to go.
As is the case with every recent FAST AND THE FURIOUS film, new famous faces have joined the pretty criminal crew. Charlize Theron is the most noticeable new addition. This becomes all the more obvious with each passing minute, to the film’s fault in fact. Serving as the new villain of the week, drawn-out philosophical monologues are her weapon of choice. One would think given her recent iconic role as Furiosa in MAD MAX: FURY ROAD, that the producers would be eager to get her behind the wheel and into the action. But alas, they use Theron for her bark rather than her bite. Not necessarily the route you would expect from her, but that’s sort of the case with many aspects of FATE.
Scott Eastwood is another new addition, and his stilted presence is no replacement for Paul Walker’s easy charisma. Thankfully, more of an emphasis is placed on the rest of the team who deliver fun sibling-like banter. A particular emphasis is put on The Rock and Jason Statham – now forced to work together due to an interesting twist in the story.
Some of the new twists and turns that writer Chris Morgan has the characters steer around (now on his 6th film in the series) shows that the series can always find new paths to travel down. The fact that they aren’t afraid to have some characters turn good and others turn bad instead of taking the easy route, makes each film worth a lap. Yet, at the same time, the series is turning into other popular film series.
This is somewhat of a departure from the previous films, where the focus is even less on car races and more on global espionage. Imagine a MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE or OCEAN’S 11 film but with the characters that you love from the previous films. Just like in those other ensemble films, they do a great job of bringing in even more of the humor and character interactions, which also made FAST FIVE shine.
While many have pointed out how the FAST Franchise finally figured out what it wants to be around the fifth film, there’s still some minor effort put forward to evolve and change with each film. The sixth film upped the ante with insane mid-air jumps over highway overpasses and an outrageous runway spectacle. The seventh film spent half the time adding some new faces to the fold while parting ways with a fan favorite. The eighth now tightens the focus on the core group they’ve developed over the last few films while adding some much-needed levity after the more dour previous film.
Instead of an entire section of LA being destroyed in chaotic, serious fashion as seen in FURIOUS 7, director F. Gary Gray lets our superheroes have a little more cheeky fun this time around. There’s zero collateral damage when you stage your finale on an icy field with skating cars. Throw in a submarine and the cheekiness level is raised all the more. Gray double downs on the campy theatrics when Statham dispenses villain after villain on a plane with a new helper – I’m not going to lie… it’s silly and ridiculous but they had me hooked already with everything leading up to it. What a crazy world we live in where I can watch The Rock guide a missile across the ice with his bulging bicep and I can react with a non-judgemental shrug.
Regardless of fan reaction and critical disapproval, the FATE of the series is unlikely in jeopardy. They have shown how to successfully move on past the death of an original cast member. Moreso, they have proven that Marvel isn’t the only one with a cinematic universe built around fun characters and exhilarating action. What makes the series continue to be a guilty pleasure is the diverse cast of characters. And while each new adventure might not be the most exciting in this Saturday morning serial, it’s the emphasis on the overarching story that has us going round and round again.
Overall Score: 3 out of 5
THE FATE OF THE FURIOUS opens in theaters April 14th
The Fast and the Furious is a franchise that most thought of as over and done with, however Brian O’Conner and Dominic Toretto aren’t ready to put the keys away quite yet.