The Fate of the Furious
Year: 2017
Director: F. Gary Gray
Starring: Vin Diesel, Scott Eastwood, Nathalie Emmanuel, Tyrese Gibson, Dwayne Johnson, Ludacris, Michelle Rodriguez, Jason Statham & Charlize Theron
Runtime: 136 mins
BBFC: 12
Published: 16/02/22
Director: F. Gary Gray
Starring: Vin Diesel, Scott Eastwood, Nathalie Emmanuel, Tyrese Gibson, Dwayne Johnson, Ludacris, Michelle Rodriguez, Jason Statham & Charlize Theron
Runtime: 136 mins
BBFC: 12
Published: 16/02/22
Following the death of Paul Walker the question on any Fast & Furious’ fan’s lips was how will they continue the series without him? I mean he was first actor signed on to the original film, he had been in every entry besides Tokyo Drift, and he was arguably the series main character. So seeing Brian O’Conner drive off into the sunset at the end of Furious 7 felt very final, despite the fact that we all knew Universal would make more films because the Fast Saga is their biggest money making machine. So, what does a Fast Saga film look like post-Walker? Simultaneously completely different, but also exactly what you’d expect.
Dom (Vin Diesel) and Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) are enjoying their honeymoon in Cuba until Dom is cornered by cyberterrorist Cipher (Charlize Theron) who coerces him into working for her. Shortly thereafter Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) calls up Dom’s team to perform a heist on a military outpost in Berlin, the target is an EMP device. Having successfully stolen the EMP, Dom then turns on the crew and steals the EMP for Cipher, appearing to have turned on his code of family first.
Mr. Nobody (Kurt Russell) reunites Dom’s crew of Letty, Tej (Ludacris), Roman (Tyrese Gibson), Ramsey (Nathalie Emmanuel), and Hobbs, with the added extra of their former foe Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham), to track down Cipher and stop her before she starts WWIII, even if that means taking down Dom in the process.
Dom (Vin Diesel) and Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) are enjoying their honeymoon in Cuba until Dom is cornered by cyberterrorist Cipher (Charlize Theron) who coerces him into working for her. Shortly thereafter Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) calls up Dom’s team to perform a heist on a military outpost in Berlin, the target is an EMP device. Having successfully stolen the EMP, Dom then turns on the crew and steals the EMP for Cipher, appearing to have turned on his code of family first.
Mr. Nobody (Kurt Russell) reunites Dom’s crew of Letty, Tej (Ludacris), Roman (Tyrese Gibson), Ramsey (Nathalie Emmanuel), and Hobbs, with the added extra of their former foe Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham), to track down Cipher and stop her before she starts WWIII, even if that means taking down Dom in the process.
The Fate of the Furious continues the upwards escalation of the action set in motion by Furious 7. Where the first three Fast Saga films were about street racing (maybe not so much the second film, but it was at least grounded), and the next three were about heists, seven leaned more into spy thriller territory and eight just goes the whole hog. Fate is a Mission Impossible film but with an emphasis on fast cars and low on brain cells.
But this is no bad thing, in fact I feel like I actually had more fun with Fate than I did Furious 7 because it stopped taking itself seriously. Fast Five and F&F6 were definitely over the top with their action sequences, but it never felt completely outside the realms of believability, but Furious 7 did tip the scales into absurdity but kept the same straight face the series had donned since the original film in 2001. Fate doesn’t cross the line into self-parody, but it doesn’t take itself seriously. It knows you want big dumb action and it’s going to make sure you get bigger, dumber action than ever before.
Fate doesn’t totally abandon the Fast Saga’s trope of familial bonds though and again it feels like it does a much better job than the last few films at placing it at the very centre of the story. Dom’s whole reasoning behind helping Cipher is that she’s holding Elena (Elsa Pataky), Dom’s ex-girlfriend, and their son (who Dom didn’t know existed) hostage. Whilst the whole estranged family member popping up out of the blue for plot convenience is generally an annoying trope, I again didn’t find myself minding all that much because Fate never tries to be anything more than guilty pleasure vehicular carnage. The simplicity and cliché nature of the plot works in its favour and allows you to just bask in the glory of its totally ridiculous action sequences even more.
The special effects are also better than Furious 7’s. If you read my review, you’ll know that I thought they looked cheap, tacky, and generally unfinished a lot of the time. Fate fixes this by returning them to the former glory of the Fast Saga where stuff looks real…most of the time. Hundreds of cars hurtling round a New York intersection at seventy miles per hour did look a bit weird no matter how many times I replayed it, but scenes where people are diving out of cars no longer looks like it was all done on a green screen, even if it was, because there’s some care gone into making the effects look good again.
But this is no bad thing, in fact I feel like I actually had more fun with Fate than I did Furious 7 because it stopped taking itself seriously. Fast Five and F&F6 were definitely over the top with their action sequences, but it never felt completely outside the realms of believability, but Furious 7 did tip the scales into absurdity but kept the same straight face the series had donned since the original film in 2001. Fate doesn’t cross the line into self-parody, but it doesn’t take itself seriously. It knows you want big dumb action and it’s going to make sure you get bigger, dumber action than ever before.
Fate doesn’t totally abandon the Fast Saga’s trope of familial bonds though and again it feels like it does a much better job than the last few films at placing it at the very centre of the story. Dom’s whole reasoning behind helping Cipher is that she’s holding Elena (Elsa Pataky), Dom’s ex-girlfriend, and their son (who Dom didn’t know existed) hostage. Whilst the whole estranged family member popping up out of the blue for plot convenience is generally an annoying trope, I again didn’t find myself minding all that much because Fate never tries to be anything more than guilty pleasure vehicular carnage. The simplicity and cliché nature of the plot works in its favour and allows you to just bask in the glory of its totally ridiculous action sequences even more.
The special effects are also better than Furious 7’s. If you read my review, you’ll know that I thought they looked cheap, tacky, and generally unfinished a lot of the time. Fate fixes this by returning them to the former glory of the Fast Saga where stuff looks real…most of the time. Hundreds of cars hurtling round a New York intersection at seventy miles per hour did look a bit weird no matter how many times I replayed it, but scenes where people are diving out of cars no longer looks like it was all done on a green screen, even if it was, because there’s some care gone into making the effects look good again.
Cipher is also the best villain in the series so far. Deckard Shaw was pretty good in Furious 7, but Cipher easily tops him. She’s just got this Saturday morning cartoon villainess air about her, where she wants world domination and she’ll do anything crazy to do it. But she’s not a clown, she’s actually relatively threatening and that comes down to the great performance from Theron.
Deckard does return in this film but as a ‘good guy’, and the banter between him and Hobbs does start to get a little grating at times, but Statham is clearly having a whole lot of fun in the role, and the scene towards the end of the film where he’s doing his best John Wick impression whilst holding a baby is excellent.
I had reservations going into The Fate of the Furious. I remember the film getting middling reviews on release and it not clicking well with audiences, and I figured that maybe the magic of the Fast Saga died with Walker. Not only that but F. Gary Gray is not a director I think particularly highly of. But The Fate of the Furious did perhaps the only thing the Fast Saga could do to stay relevant and that’s have fun with itself. The Fate of the Furious is a bad film that I can guarantee will be a great time with a group of friends. Get the snacks, dim the lights, and crank up the volume to enjoy some great jokes, awesome action sequences, and thrilling vehicular stunts. It isn’t as good as Fast Five, but it’s close and I’d say on par with F&F6. If the Fast Saga continues on this trajectory then I’m very much looking forward to what happens next.
Deckard does return in this film but as a ‘good guy’, and the banter between him and Hobbs does start to get a little grating at times, but Statham is clearly having a whole lot of fun in the role, and the scene towards the end of the film where he’s doing his best John Wick impression whilst holding a baby is excellent.
I had reservations going into The Fate of the Furious. I remember the film getting middling reviews on release and it not clicking well with audiences, and I figured that maybe the magic of the Fast Saga died with Walker. Not only that but F. Gary Gray is not a director I think particularly highly of. But The Fate of the Furious did perhaps the only thing the Fast Saga could do to stay relevant and that’s have fun with itself. The Fate of the Furious is a bad film that I can guarantee will be a great time with a group of friends. Get the snacks, dim the lights, and crank up the volume to enjoy some great jokes, awesome action sequences, and thrilling vehicular stunts. It isn’t as good as Fast Five, but it’s close and I’d say on par with F&F6. If the Fast Saga continues on this trajectory then I’m very much looking forward to what happens next.