The people's guilty pleasure

Rating: 7/10 (6 April 2015)

Quickie Review:
Dom (Vin Diesel) and his family finally get to return home after leaving their criminal life behind. This calm life doesn't last long when Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham) seeks out revenge against them for his comatose brother. This franchise made a great comeback in the past three movies, and this movie continues that momentum. Fast & Furious 7 is not perfect, adding too many story elements taking away the screen time from Jason Statham as the principal threat. However, the all- out ridiculous set pieces, non-stop one liners, and the character banter make this movie a joy to watch. Also Fast & Furious 7 serves as a great tribute to the late Paul Walker.
Full Review:
Most would agree that the Fast & Furious movies aren't meant to be taken seriously. The point is to go to the cinema with a group of friends and enjoy the absurd fun while stuffing your face with cinema snacks. Fast & Furious 7 is the perfect film for that. I just wish we had seen more awesomeness from one of the most loved action heroes, Mr. Statham.
There a lot of movies that have ridiculous amounts of explosions and action set pieces but in the end are horrible movies *cough* Transformers *cough*. What makes Fast & Furious work are the characters that are so likable. All these sequences would be white noise without the cast. The way they react, interact and tease each other, you can really tell that their comradery is genuine. There are countless moments where I laughed at the sheer stupidity of some of the things going on, but I didn't care because I was having so much fun. So if you loved the over the top nature of the previous movies with the great cast, you will continue to love this movie.
My only complaint is also a major one, Jason Statham was too much in the side lines. I love Statham in his movies, and when I saw that he was playing the villain I was excited. However, apart from the final act, he only conveniently appears at random points of the movie to make Dom's side missions a little harder. Don't get me wrong, Statham is great in all his scenes, but Djimon Hounsou a secondary villain has just as much screen-time. Hounsou's character wasn't even all that significant or menacing to warrant him being in the movie. All he did was scream "WHAT!?" like the artist Lil' Jon whenever things didn't go his way. So if the filmmakers had kept Statham as the sole villain it would have served the vendetta plot and the threat that Dom faced a lot better.
Of course I can't do this review without mentioning Paul Walker. It was tragic the way he passed away, and all of us know how devastated his family and his Fast & Furious family were. This movie carried a lot of emotional weight for the people involved. The way they honored Paul Walker was truly heartfelt. I was really moved by the tribute.
All in all, Fast & Furious 7 was fun and entertaining, did almost everything it set out to do. If you're not a fan of this franchise this movie will not convert you, but if you are fan then you will have a great time. Even with my complaint with the way Statham's character was handled, I still highly recommend checking out Fast & Furious 7. A great start to the summer blockbuster season.
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