Fast & Furious 7 (Movie Review)

Synopsis

Deckard Shaw seeks revenge against Dominic Toretto and his family for his comatose brother.

Continuing the global exploits in the unstoppable franchise built on speed, Vin Diesel, Paul Walker and Dwayne Johnson lead the returning cast of Fast & Furious 7.

James Wan directs this chapter of the hugely successful series that also welcomes back favorites Michelle Rodriguez, Jordana Brewster, Tyrese Gibson, Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, Elsa Pataky and Lucas Black. They are joined by international action stars new to the franchise including Jason Statham, Djimon Hounsou, Tony Jaa, Ronda Rousey and Kurt Russell.

Verdict

I have a confession to make. I haven’t seen any of the Fast & Furious movies before this.

No wait, I take that back, I did watch Tokyo Drift when I had – umm – a crush on a drifter (teehee), but I don’t remember any of it now because it was so long ago.

I probably should have armed myself by watching the movies beforehand or at least wikipedia-ing their plots or watching the below video on every fast and furious movie plot (until FF6) in 10 minutes.

Nevertheless, even though I did not know anything about the previous movies, that did not make me enjoy the movie any less. It was definitely fast and furious, with so many nail-biting sequences that moved so quickly, there wasn’t a single moment of boredom. I loved it!

Fair warning, though, there is one thing you need to arm yourself with before watching this film, and that’s not knowledge of its prequels, but this: SUSPENSION OF DISBELIEF.

In case you don’t know what that means, here is how Google explains it: In order to enjoy such stories, the audience engages in a phenomenon known as “suspension of disbelief”. This is a semi-conscious decision in which you put aside your disbelief and accept the premise as being real for the duration of the story. Comprendé?

I definitely don’t mind stories that are so unrealistic that they need jaw dropping special effects to pull them off. I mean, that is the point of a movie, isn’t it? To entertain? If they stick to realism, I might as well just look at my own life, which is certainly not entertaining enough to be a movie, believe me.

It was definitely a guy movie, with all the close ups on women’s backsides and action and explosions and fight scenes, but it was enjoyable for us women, as well! It was not just because of eye candy Paul Walker (who died in real life, may he rest in peace), but because the movie actually had a plot, as outlandish as it may be.

Everyone in the cinema laughed at a lot of witty one-liners, and I’m sure a lot of us also shed a tear at that touching and tastefully done tribute for the late Paul Walker at the end. I mean, I can’t possibly be the only one, right? Right??

Hold on, don’t get mad at me for this spoiler because this news is all over the internet! Surely you knew about this already?

So in conclusion, I’d say it was a movie well worth my own scenes of fast and furious running out of the office just so I could reach the cinema in time to watch it last night.

So yes, go watch it!

Trivia (via IMDB)

Production on the film was halted on December 1, 2013 following the tragic death of Paul Walker, who was killed in a car crash on November 30, 2013. Shooting had been underway in Atlanta and the film was scheduled to be released on July 11, 2014. Director James Wan and Universal executives held a conference call to determine how to proceed with the production in a manner respectful to Walker’s memory. Walker was nearly half way through filming at the time of his death. Although there was some consideration about scrapping the film altogether, the film eventually resumed productions following rewrites to address Walker’s absence and give his character a proper send-off.

Body doubles, stunt doubles, and CGI were used to complete the film following Paul Walker’s death. Walker’s brothers Caleb Walker and Cody Walker were among the doubles, and also provided voice over for the character Brian O’Conner.

International Ratings: IMDB 8.2 | Rotten Tomatoes 83%

This post is part of the A to Z Challenge, a blog hop that goes through the alphabet for all the days of April except Sundays. Today’s feature is F for Fast & Furious.

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