About as good as mindless popcorn entertainment gets

Rating: 7/10 (27 September 2015)

I'm quite a latecomer to the FAST & FURIOUS franchise, having gotten on with the fourth entry, but not really liking it until FAST FIVE. Here we are, seven films in, the series has morphed into something else entirely different from the street racing formula it started as. While the previous two were heist films, FURIOUS 7 goes into full superhero mode. I mean, can nothing kill these people? Still, once you embrace the absurdity there's a lot of fun to be had with the over-the-top action and quip-making. The plot, as if it really matters, involves Dom and his team going after Deckard Shaw, who is hunting them down because of what they did to his brother in the previous movie. It's actually an interesting dual family dynamic that, sadly, isn't really played up save for one scene at the beginning. That's also the scene where we're introduced to just how bada** that Shaw is by seeing the aftermath of what he did to the hospital where his brother is staying. Sadly, nothing in the rest of the film lives up to that level of awesome. Along the way, the team has to extract a hacker so that they can get some incredible piece of technology that will help them find Shaw. However, the "God's Eye" is merely a plot-driving MacGuffin that extends the running time, and kind of useless because Shaw just keeps showing up where Dom and company are anyway as the plot requires. And that's generally the biggest problem with FURIOUS 7: it relies too heavily and coincidence and convenience to drive the story. Still, the film delivers on the action it promises. Big time. The coolest stunt in the whole film is probably where they parachute cars down onto a mountain, which looked to be achieved practically (at least part of it). I can only imagine what an adrenaline rush it would have been to see it on a premium format screen (like IMAX), but it was still effective on my laptop. But, for my money, the film's best action sequence takes place in Abu Dhabi. James Wan, best known until now for directing low-budget horror films, was at his directorial best here deftly cutting between concurrent action sequences and witty banter courtesy of Roman (Tyrese). After this show-stopping segment, the final "street fight" was almost anti-climactic by comparison. As for the lulls between the action, there was plenty of talk about family as is typical for the series. Yet, none of it really felt genuine until the emotional final scene which pays tribute, and says farewell, to Paul Walker. That moment alone, out of all the other similar ones throughout the series, was heartfelt and touching without being clichéd. So, is this highbrow entertainment? Heck no! But, it knows what it is and delivers what the target audience wants.