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MOVIE:
Fast & Furious 7
OUR RATING
4/5 Stars
WHAT IT'S ABOUT:
After defeating Owen Shaw and his crew, Dominic Toretto, Brian O’Conner and the rest of the crew are able to return to the United States and live normal lives. However, Owen’s older brother, Ian Shaw, is after Dom and his crew, seeking revenge for his brother’s death, and putting the entire crew in danger once more.
After learning of Han’s death, the crew sets out to find the man who killed one of their own, before he finds them first.
WHAT WE THOUGHT:
Following the events of Fast and Furious 6, it turns out dastardly villain Owen Shaw (Luke Evans) has an evil brother, Deckard (played by a Jason Staham), intent on revenge. Shaw begins his path of vengeance by killing Han, shown at the end of the sixth film, and sending a rather violent message to Dominic Torretto (Vin Diesel) and his crew.
It's up to Dom and his gang of carjacking vigilantes (hard to believe that's what they started doing 14 years ago) to take on a relentless Shaw with the aid of a clandestine government agency led by "Mr Nobody" (Kurt Russel).
Series favourite agent Hobbes (Dwanye "The Rock" Johnson) returns along with Lettie (Michelle Rodriguez) who is dealing with amnesia following her crash in the fifth movie.
There's enough car-candy for motoring enthusiasts to enjoy and occasionally wince at. During one high-flying stunt, Walker yells out "Cars don't fly!" which accurately sums up the use of vehicles in the movie, although varied and plentiful, are treated as props and in many cases projectiles.
The F&F series prides itself on giving the audience all the vehicular madness it can endure. It's the kind of movie where you'll start off rolling your eyes but by the end you're pleasantly surprised at just how much you're actually enjoying the vehicular lunacy on screen.
From smashing a car through a trio of the world's best hotels to shameless plugging (It'll take you days to stop thinking about drinking Corona), the movie doesn't take itself seriously and in this case it's a good thing.
Highlights include an epic cliff-top chase in Azerbaijan and a game of "hot potato" involving a Predator drone in downtown Los Angeles.
Some of its negatives include the tedious "will Letti remember Dom?" saga and Roman (Tyrese Gibson) being reduced to a cartoon version of himself ("I bet there's missiles under that dress" - actual line). For petrolheads, the lack of a proper car chase involving the Lycan (maybe taking on the Veyron, right!?) is a letdown.
Despite its shortcomings, it's possibly the best in the F&F series though the tone couldn't be more of a departure from the first films. It's a great action flick which even non-fans would find entertaining and it's a fitting send-off for Walker who helped build the series into what it is.
Look out for an awesome montage of Walker's Fast & Furious career before the credits roll.
Click here for a full review on all the cars that star in the movie.
WATCH THE TRAILER HERE:
