The wrong tribute to the wrong man

Rating: 5/10 (5 April 2015)

Furious 7 is the  seventh installment in the Fast and Furious franchise. Watching it makes it obvious that it has come a very long way from its 2001 days. It is loud, violent, and emotional, something that the previous films all seemed to strive towards but never could achieve to the degree that Furious 7 did. But was it too much? Was the decision to turn a small franchise about crime and street racing into a massive, apocalyptic film with insane, death-defying stunts even a good idea? Well, sure. But not to the extent of Furious 7. It is too loud, too violent, and too serious. Jason Statham removes all the lightness of the previous films with his sneering, annoying, black-op juggernaut vibe, while the clanking and smashing brings back cold-sweat nightmares of a casual trip to the imagination of Michael Bay. It almost makes me yearn for a delicate drama, something where the words are not canned and meaningless, where the meaning is complex, and where Jason Statham is in a world far removed from it. Which isn't to say the film is awful. It is stylish, funny, and sexist as always, filled with fancy cars and gasp-inducing moments. But I just think it takes it a bit too far, especially in its fighting scenes and the apparent invincibility of all the characters. They survive rollovers with a few scratches, getting hit in the face with wrenches with little cuts, and getting hit with bottles with little as much as a small moan. And whenever they get hit the theater fills with a massive, crunching thud that eventually gets hard to take.
Here's the story in a nutshell. Owen Shaw's (villain from FAF6) big brother (Deckard Shaw) decides to take his revenge on Dominic Toretto and his crew for crippling his brother. Han is revealed to have been killed by Mr. Shaw, and Dominic is now Shaw's new target. Of course, Dominic is mad as heck. No one targets his family and lives to not go to jail.
The film ends with the words "For Paul" as we knew it would. The death of Paul Walker left everyone (or at least me) confused at how it would even be possible to make Furious 7 in the first place. But as I watched the sensitive, tasteful tribute at the end of the film, I began to feel a sort of emptiness. The tribute, I realized, was for the character, Brian O' Connor. Paul Walker was just who the film was dedicated to. The inescapable hypocrisy of the film began to become painfully evident.
How did Paul Walker die? He was in a car accident involving a car driving at an insane velocity. He was killed going too fast. And yet, we glorify him in a film that is all about driving fast, and shows it to be completely safe. Nobody even gets hurt after driving off cliffs, crashing into trees, or driving out of buildings. By supporting this mentality, we are not honouring Paul Walker. We are contributing to his folly.
The best way to honour him would be to not finish Furious 7, and to quietly abandon the franchise.