Not like the rest

Rating: 8/10 (4 November 2016)

I'd be the first to admit I'm not the biggest fan of the 'Fast and Furious' series. I've seen nearly all of them somehow and just never really enjoyed them. Cars do absolutely nothing for me and the rest of the action I often find bland and uninteresting. This one was unquestionably different though. The death of Paul Walker in 2013 shocked film lovers. He was never the best actor going around, but he had been in some fun films and played some entertaining characters. 'Joy Ride' back in 2001 (incidentally the same year the first 'The Fast and the Furious' movie came out) is a personal favourite of mine. Of course it was reported that he was halfway through filming 'Furious 7' at the time and the film went into limbo until a decision on how to proceed was reached.
If you had a crisis in the film making department, there are very few people I would rather have than James Wan at the helm to deal with the problem. The man has shown he is a class act. In a day and age when horror is all but dead, he has done the seemingly impossible and revitalised the genre with multiple franchises. 'Furious 7' is far from being a horror movie, and yet his film making capabilities continue to shine through. How they dealt with Walker's death, in regards to the film, was impeccable. If you didn't know going in that he hadn't been able to film half his scenes himself you would never have known the difference. I was quite blown away by just how well they did this.
The film itself was surprisingly enjoyable. The opening scene introducing Jason Statham was a piece of brilliance and set a wonderful tone for the film. The action sequences were entertaining and well shot, however they did go on very long and I feel a little bit could have been trimmed off these to keep the run time down. Almost all of the cameos were well done, with the one exception being Ronda Rousey. Her complete lack of acting ability were very off putting and her celebrity status brought nothing to the film. Finally, the touching tribute to Walker near the end was quite beautiful and a lovely send off for the man. Well done to all involved for handling a difficult situation with class and aplomb.
RIP Paul Walker