Big Budget Brouhaha

Rating: 7/10 (10 September 2015)

If you want girls, guns, fast cars and lots of explosions this will not disappoint. A mixture of James Bond, Expendables, Mission Impossible, Bourne and the A Team on crack cocaine, the story races along, looking good, with the volume cranked up to ten. In the credits the stunt crew easily outnumber the actors.
The set pieces are outstanding. A motorised parachute drop and car escape from skyscraper to skyscraper stand out. More routine sequences with a coach on the edge of a cliff, and a helicopter and drone attack in a city's streets are no less effective. The script is corny, the cod philosophy risible, the jeopardy unconvincing – but who cares? You have girls, guns, fast cars and lots of explosions.
Jason Statham is solid as the baddie, Vin Diesel is of course cool as **** the hero. Kurt Russell acquits his role well as the mysterious Government Mr Fixit. Djimon Hounsou glowers in an underwritten role, Paul Walker is as reliable as ever and will be missed following his untimely death in a road traffic accident. Director James "Saw" Wan is relentless in his storytelling. Nathalie Emmanuel smolders and shimmies as the hacker.
Although the seventh in the series, the drone strikes , hacking, and omniscient surveillance maintains the films contemporaneity and stays abreast of the day, the appeal of a fast car is of course timeless. Fans will be delighted, the curious will have more than enough to engage them,this is no thriller, just an action ride, but an excellent one.