For Paul.

Rating: 8/10 (18 April 2015)

I'm an avid fan of the Fast & Furious franchise and even more so since Fast Five was released. Paul Walker's passing have left me stunned and saddened beyond measure and left me wondering on how Furious 7 will turn out with his absence. The end product has turned out pretty good as I imagined it would be. James Wan (of Saw, Insidious and Conjuring fame), with his fresh take on action movies, has created a bigger, better, faster and louder movie than its predecessors. The movie starts off with the introduction of the new villain, Deckard Shaw (Jason Staham), the big brother of Owen Shaw who appeared in the last two movies. Deckard Shaw's mission is to eliminate the people who are responsible in the downfall of his brother. Furious 7 is all brawls and bangs and jumps right into action right off the bat. Agent Hobbs discovers Shaw hacking into his office computer to retrieve information about the crew. We are greeted with an intense battle between Agent Hobbs and Shaw, which sees Shaw succeeding in injuring Hobbs with explosives.
The original crew is back once again with their familiar faces and kick-ass energy. With Hobbs out of the picture, they have to hunt down Shaw on their own. Shaw has blown up Dom's house via a bomb package and killed their crew member Han, reiterating the need to track down this dangerous man as soon as possible. Deckard Shaw, however, is a lurking shadow and virtually untraceable – that is, till they met Mr. Nobody and Ramsey the Hacker; in addition to having their hands on "God's Eye". However, things went South at an alarming pace. Shaw has formed a secret alliance with a terrorist who is eager to coerce Ramsey into helping them control the "God's Eye". Furious 7 delivers a non-stop action fest in its two and a half hours entirety. Bountiful car chases, death defying crashes, leaps between fast moving vehicles, crazy shooting and colorful explosions ensure viewers that there is not a dull moment. There are also many fancy camera tricks used by Wan that I really like. The most memorable action scenes would be the "car drop from sky" over Caucasus Mountains and "flying car jump" through the magnificent Etihad Towers in Abu Dhabi. How very creative, insane and ridiculous.
Diesel, Walker, Rodriguez, Tyrese and Ludracris shine through their roles and display solid acting. As always, Diesel plays the cool, headstrong leader, with Walker as the equally strong and fearless sidekick, Rodriguez as the tough cookie, Tyrese and Ludracris as the witty, bickering old "couple". Nathalie Emmanuel did a decent job as the sexy and smart hacker Ramsey and Kurt Russell as the mysterious yet helpful Mr. Nobody. Staham's good as what he does, playing the elusive, gun-wielding, grenade master Shaw. Johnson has his share of limelight by appearing at the final hours to save the day as the last minute hero. Furious 7 has its touching moments. When Letty painfully clutched at an unconscious Dom and recalled her old memories, I almost shed a tear. The final beach scene that bides farewell to Paul Walker and character Brian is beautiful and simply perfect. The gazes written on the faces of every crew member as they look upon Brian and his family is a mixture of emotions – pain, sadness, longing - as they say their final goodbyes to their close friend and brother-in-arms. "For Paul." These two simple words shook me to the core and brought me a new wave of sadness all over again. I cried.
In a nutshell, Furious 7 is a popcorn fest, with its galore of fast cars, hot chicks, high octane action but also serves as beautiful tribute to the late Paul Walker. Non-action fans may not appreciate the movie as the stunts are over-the-top and breaks every law of physics known to mankind. You just have to suspend your disbelief and stop questioning whether Vin Diesel is a human or android in order to fully enjoy the movie. Watch the movie, for the memory of Paul.