Furious 7 was alright. Sit back and enjoy the ride, let reality leave you for a couple hours.

Rating: 7/10 (10 April 2015)

Furious 7 rides into theaters, yet again. Taking place, after the events of 2003's Fast & Furious Tokyo Drift & 2013's Fast & Furious 6. The story brings all the characters from the previous films, back together for one more adventure. In this movie, Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) and his crew, are faced with a sinister foe, Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham), whom seeks revenge for his comatose brother. Directed by James Wan, the movie combine, most of the plot threads of the previous films into one. It moves as if it's recapping the previous films. The plot get more and more out there. With each passing film you can see it becoming more and more far- fetched. The movie starts out, with car racing like the first movie, 2001's Fast & Furious. It then goes into a heist sub-plot like 2011's Fast Five, and then the movie go into the spy genre, like Fast & Furious 6. In many ways, it's nearly a complete movie. Once again, the movie brings over the top action. Without spoiling too much, I found a few things about the film action, a bit jarring. I really didn't buy into most of the actions scene, because how unrealistic, it was. There were a lot of BS scenes where the hero walk away, nearly unscratched, when they should be, dead or in serious condition. If you're a fan of more realistic action, this movie might not be for you. If you like over the top. It's full of it. I think the highlight of the film, has to be the Abu Dhabi heist sequences. It was so testosterone full! I love the fight scenes between Luke Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) & Deckard Shaw. Jason Statham makes a great villain. It's too bad, that the movie didn't focus on him, as much, as it should had. I really thought, the movie would had work better, if he was the main villain, rather than the large number of sub-villains, they had for the crew, to fight against. Who knew, that Djimon Hounsou's character, Jakande, would be just as huge as a threat as Deckard Shaw? I didn't see, that coming from the trailers. I really didn't see Kara (Ronda Rousey) being a minor character. I thought, she was working for Shaw. Instead, she was working for some prince. Still, the fight between Letty Ortiz (Michelle Rodriguez) & Kara (Ronda Rousey) was pretty awesome. Like, I said before, honestly, how many movies are they going to make out of these characters? I know, most of the actors can't find work outside from the popular Fast and Furious film series, but seriously, it's the 7th movie in film series. It's clear, that these actors only got this franchise to keep their careers, going. The actors are indeed, 'One trick Ponies'. Don't get me wrong, they're alright in the film, but I'm really getting annoyed by the lead actor, Vin Diesel's mumbling and lazy not buff, look. Unfortunately, one of the better actors, Paul Walker, was killed in a car accident, during filming, which lead to Vin Diesel having a bigger role in the film. Director James Wan did the best, he can, to replace Paul Walker, by giving Walker's dialogue to other characters, or having Paul Walker's brothers as stand ins. For the most part, it kinda works, but there were a few shadowy back-head or far away shots that clearly made, because Paul Walker wasn't there, anymore. Once again, actors Tyrese Gibson & Ludicrous are the comic reliefs. Tyrese Gibson's Roman still gives, some good one-liners and zingers, but he's a little more annoying now, since the movie made him, look more like a coward. Ludicrous's Tej is a little more unbelievable. It's weird that he's the tech guy, now. It's also strange, that he knows karate, now too. The cameos in the film was alright for the most part. I wish, Lucas Black's Sean Boswell, had a bigger part. I wouldn't call this movie, a stand-alone film. There is a lot of things you wouldn't get if you didn't watch the previous films. The movie is a bit long. They added a lot of tiresome long scenes, like skydiving in cars to rescue an important kidnapped hacker, Ramsey (Nathalie Emmanuel) for a mysterious secret agent (Kurt Russell). The whole God's eye subplot wasn't really needed. I know, it is paper thin, but they would had stretch out the revenge plot. I came to see this movie just for that. Due to that add, this film became the longest movie in the series so far. Another fault of the film, is how they treat women. They parade them as sex objects. Michelle Rodriguez and Nathalie Emmanuel are strong, smart female role models, even though the movie does objectify them physically. There are tons of bikini shots and car porn that can make any young man, horny as hell. Overall: I really don't understand why films like this, get a higher score, than Michael Bay films. It's nearly has the same stupid problems. Too many explosion, clumsy writing and degrading stereotypes and women. I guess, Fast & Furious just have more loyal fans. Still, the best thing about this film, is how they handled the tragic death of lead Paul Walker with admirable grace, ultimately creating an emotionally impactful farewell. Despite, the natured absurdity of this world, it still worth seeing, only for that, alone.