Fast & Furious 7 ****

It’s the long-awaited follow-up that unleashes (a p****d) Jason Statham on the franchise, but also, sadly, says goodbye to Paul Walker, an actor who made his name in the series with surprisingly average acting skills but just all-American good looks. Fast & Furious 7 puts horror’s James Wan (Insidious 2 and The Conjuring) in the director’s seat this time – instead of Justin Lin, but it feels like the same gloriously over-acted offering with fast cars, crazy, gravity-defying stunts and half-dressed women as ever. In fact, ‘crazy’ just got crazier with some action pieces just so nonsensical that you won’t do anything but whoop with sheer delight. Watching this on an IMAX screen is definitely worth the money too.

After his brother, Owen (Luke Evans), is placed in a coma, following his ‘evil’ feats in Furious 6, big (nastier) bro Deckard Shaw (Statham) wants revenge on Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) and his motoring crew. However, Shaw Senior is a trained special ops assassin, a ‘shadow’, who is not easily defeated. Shaw pays Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) a visit at his HQ one night, causing chaos, and hospitalising the ‘man mountain’ (who is ever bigger in this film). This sets off a chain of events that sees Toretto and co trying to bring down ‘the shadow’ while saving the world from a new tracking system that has dire global consequences if it falls into the wrong hands.

The best bet is to suspend disbelief with each new Fast & Furious film that comes out. The stunts are ballsier and more thrilling, with carnage the order of the day. The series makes no apologies for its chauvinistic nature; beautiful ladies are there to ogle, even when they fight dirty in evening frocks – much like latter-day Bond flick, really. What this franchise has is a beauty of another kind – four wheels for petrol heads out there, and it never fails to deliver, even if the cars would never withstand that kind of rigorous road testing in real life.

The acting has not got any better – Statham appears practically thespian-like in comparison here. However, it’s part of the whiff of cheese and self-mockery that makes these Neanderthal male characters so endearing – plus Toretto constantly reminding us of what a committed ‘family man’ he is. It seems there may be honour among thieves.

The only thing that is far-fetched and seems a tad ‘throwaway’ in Furious 7 is the addition of your standard international crime lord, played by Djimon Hounsou as Jakande. He gets very little explanation in terms of his motivation, and seems like an empty threat, when really, the film could have just had Shaw as the only villain – however ‘samey’ as the previous film that might have been.

For fans wanting a fitting tribute to Walker, this film yanks hard on the heartstrings at the end – again, shamelessly, and without apology. There will be a lump in every fan’s throat, maybe even a tear shed, but it’s a nice ending for the actor. It also settles the question of what to do next with Bryan, if there is another future film to follow.

Fast & Furious 7 serves up the same as before, only bigger, louder and bolder. Revel in its silliness and its big heart and let it simply entertain you – all it ever tries to do.

4/5 stars

By @FilmGazer

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