Movie Review: Fast and Furious 7 (Beware of spoilers)

Fast and Furious 7 Official Trailer

Source: http://blogs-images.forbes.com/scottmendelson/files/2015/03/Fast-and-Furious-7-Pic-1940x891.jpg

(SPOILER ALERT: I'll try not to ruin much of the storyline but like all reviews, they do come with minor spoilers)


One of 2015's most anticipated action movies, Fast and Furious 7 is the seventh instalment of the Fast and Furious franchise (obviously). The series continues with the original cast such as Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Tyrese Gibson and with the new addition of Jason Statham. The film was released with international success, making $392 million in its first three days after release, and to date has grossed over $800 million, making it the most successful film of its franchise and of 2015 so far. Although the film generated positive reviews from the public, I wouldn't attribute its success solely based on its storyline and film techniques. As we all know, Paul Walker sadly passed away in November 2013, in the midst of filming Furious 7 and because of this, the release was delayed almost six months. During this period, a lot of hype was generated, and in my opinion, positively affected its release, but i'm not trying to take away from the fact that the film is good.

Source: http://blogs-images.forbes.com/insertcoin/files/2015/04/furious-7.jpg

 Furious 7 meets the expectations that all the viewers have and continues to exceed them. The film shares the common characteristics from its previous series including intense car sequences, violent fist and gun fights, the added humour of Roman Pearce and the added touch of an emotional ending that will even leave the manliest with a shed of tears. The film continues to keep the audience on their feet with scenes that escape realism and attempts stunts that nobody thought was possible. Which is one of the biggest concerns I had with the film. (I'll try not to spoil the film by referring to scenes within the trailer) An example would be the fight scene between Hobbs (the Rock) and Deckard (Jason Statham), where the two continue to exchange punches. I honestly don't understand how any human would be able to withstand a single blow to the face by The Rock, it should have shattered his skull, followed by the scene where Hobbs is seen flying out the window and landing on the car (you can tell he is alive by the following scene where he is in the hospital). Although this was just something I found annoying, as it was obviously intentionally done and decided by the directors to really emphasise the drama and intensity, which is evident through the other scenes throughout the movie.However, credit is due to those involved in the filming especially the stunt coordinator for ensuring the film is realistic to its full potential. Over 230 cars were destroyed during the filming of Furious 7 but don't worry they were just go karts with body kits on them, so we don't have to complain about how we could have had those cars. An iconic scene evident in the movie and found in the trailer was the air drop of the cars, which although did involve some CGI, was an actual stunt recreated by the coordinators. Spiro Razatos, the stunt coordinator of Furious 7 repeatedly released cars from a C130 Cargo Plane to capture and create the most realistic scene possible. The US military was involved to provide GPS parachutes and the necessary equipment to pull off the stunt. 

Source: http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/55218c0aeab8eade4673675d-1200-632/paul-walker-furious-7-end.png

Overall, Furious 7 is definitely a must see movie for 2015 and deserves the current title of highest grossing film of 2015. The action thriller followed by the emotional twist included by Director James Wan, displays his achievement in completing one of the most difficult challenges through one of the greatest send offs/retirements of a character i've ever seen, which is something extremely hard to achieve and very capable of trashing a whole series. Expectations of the audience are met through extremely energetic and engagement with intense and endless action scenes bound to keep you on your feet.