Serious Seven

Rating: 4/10 (5 April 2015)

I never got vested into the series until #5, still my favorite installment because they were finally honest and embraced the fact these are live-action cartoons and with each of the many "Yeah, right!" near misses and stunts, it makes it actually fun. #6, though not as good, but still entertaining, carried that tradition.
Unfortunately, someone decided to go back to being serious. Sure, there were some "Yeah, right!" scenes I enjoyed in Furious Seven, but they were few and far between. In fact, maybe just 2-3 in an almost 2½ hour movie. Sad.
Not to say this was a bad movie. The action scenes, though cut down tremendously from previous chapters, were really good. Mostly involving Paul Walker. And speaking of Paul
Yes, RIP Paul. I really did like him and his presence in movies. But, his part here seemed almost irrelevant. Yup, I liked his fighting the same dude twice, and he did have the most exciting "Yeah, right!" escape in the best chase/action scene in the film. But, his part in the team just seemed blah. I understand his arc, destination, etc, but his character was actually the lamest of all of themincluding the bad jokester.
What I did like most about Furious Seven were the characters played by Michelle Rodriguez and Kurt Russell. They absolutely kept things interesting. Unfortunately, the two I wanted to like more, but was sadly let down by, were: one of my favorite action stars, Jason Statham who was not as exciting to watch as is the case in any of his other films and The Rock, whose measly 10 minutes of screen time was a joke.
Unbelievably, for this series, that is, they worked on the story and, while still simple, it was enjoyable. Basically it was twofold – revenge from the brother of someone they previously killed (Die Hard with a Vengeance, anyone?) and yet another big brother device they need to obtain from the bad guys sothe US government can use it. Um, seriously? I am proud to be an American, but would absolutely think that device would be best in the bad guy's hands than in our Government's. (Thoughthey probably already have something similar, if not exactly the same, to the one in the movie, anyways.)
While the movie was decent and the few action scenes were good, I'm not 100% leaning on a recommendation since it was just sodamnlong. And what we came for just took too much time to get to. Maybe for fans, but even then, they were probably expecting what I was: another silly live- action cartoon, albeit fun, ride. They just took it way too seriously, especially for a part 7 in a franchise.
That all said, at least director James Wan gave the dudes in the audience the two things they wanted most. And when those two things showed up, for my own amusement, I had to shout out at the screen: "GIRLS! GIRLS!" and "RACE SCENE!" (Taken from a hilarious YouTube video that summarized the previous six installments. And don't worry – the movie was so flipping loud, especially during those scenes, no one could hear me.)
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Final thoughts: Yes, this is a movie. Yes, fiction. But, dang it, one of the most pointless and clichéd scenes that simply drove me nuts was one where a gun could've ended a dispute, but was discarded in lieu of a street fight. Again, I recognize this as a fictional movie, and definitively a Fast & Furious sequel, and Indiana Jones already did what I wantedbut still, it was frustrating. At least make the person run out of bullets and then do the butch, male fighting. Sheesh!