Powerful, Emotional and one enjoyable ride; Would Recommend

Rating: 7/10 (17 May 2017)

Directed by James Wan
Starring Vin Disel, Paul Walker and Jason Statham
Plot Overview: ​Soon after his brother was crippled by Dominic Torretto(Vin Disel)'s crew, Deckard Shaw(Jason Statham) seeks revenge and tries to seek out those who harmed his brother.
This movie is not only a powerful tribute to the guy who started this entire franchise, but is also an immensely enjoyable popcorn flick that succeeds without the burden of handling Paul Walker's death. I applaud James Wan and the rest of the crew for managing to make a movie incredibly enjoyable yet also incredibly upsetting. Wan had the burden of making a standard F&F popcorn flick but on top of that saying farewell to Paul and he did it in such a beautiful way that he must be applauded for that. Even without the heartbreaking tribute at the end, this movie stands on its own two feet as an immensely enjoyable popcorn flick and could have ended the franchise in the best way possible.
Half of this story was a by the numbers revenge story about Deckard Shaw(Jason Statham) hunting down those who crippled his brother. While this arc was done pretty well, it pales in comparison to the other half of the movie which was attempting to bid farewell to Brian O'Connor/Paul Walker. I think that this half of the movie was flawless and really pulled at your heartstrings. The ending was also incredible and genuinely heartbreaking which is the first time a movie like that has drawn genuine emotion from me. It was(and should have been) the perfect way to end this franchise. Alas they didn't end it here but that is another matter entirely.
It's very hard to comment on what was Paul Walker and what wasn't but regardless the character of Brian O'Connor was played very well and you could really feel emotion conveyed through it. Vin Disel was alright as Dominic Torretto but I think that the emotion he emitted was genuine which is actually heartbreaking, and I don't want to even think about going through that, but it doesn't necessarily prove his worth as an actor. Jason Statham is the the God of War incarnated. He is a living metaphor for badass and he really shines in this movie. That said, I think they could have done so much more with his character. Granted, Deckard Shaw was easily the best villain this franchise has ever had but I think they built him up to be this unstoppable force but then he only had one or two scenes that were genuinely noteworthy. Another great thing is that every character's actions is in someway justified. Vin Disel has Han's death to motivate him and Jason Statham has Owen Shaw's disability to do so. Aside from the main actors, everyone else does fine from Michelle Rodriguez to Kurt Russell but none of them really stood out. I would also have liked to see a LOT more Hobbs because he was the reason this franchise became what it is today.
From a technical standpoint, this movie is pretty good. The cinematography is pretty nice and it looks very good. Some of the effects(such as the Dubai sequence) looked awesome whereas others(such as the house sequence) looked unbelievably fake and awful.
As far as I'm concerned, this movie needed to provide fun action sequences and bid farewell to Paul Walker in a powerful way. This movie achieved both. They handled each aspect of it so magnificently and beautifully that it was just a treat to watch.
'When I see you again' is an amazing, heart wrenching song that I wholeheartedly believe should have won the Oscar. As a side note(and if you haven't watch the movie you should stop reading now), I would have made one alteration to the end of this movie. In the scene where Brian and Dom and driving down the road as a tribute to Paul Walker, I would have liked them to have both the characters be driving the cars they drove at the end of 'The Fast and the Furious'. If you can't remember them cars, then here is a link http://img1.rnkr-static.com/list_img_v2/192/280192/870/the-fast-and- the-furious-cars-u4.jpg . While it may not have need to happen, I think that doing that would have been a beautiful send off to Paul Walker and would have ended the franchise in a flawless manner.
In conclusion, this movie is a very enjoyable popcorn flick that also has a powerful tribute and message so I do recommend that you see it.
7/10
Would Recommend