There’s a great deal of anticipation surrounding James Wan’s Furious 7, the latest and posed to be the most lucrative installment in the greatest gearhead franchise in film history. Not only does the director have the unenviable task of trying to top the stunts in Justin Lin’s Furious 6, but he and screenwriter Chris Morgan are charged with creating an appropriate sendoff for actor Paul Walker, who died tragically while this feature was being made. Fans of the franchise will be well-pleased on both counts as Wan doesn’t let silly things like logic or gravity get in the way of delivering some of the most ridiculous stunts ever committed to film, and yet he’s able to strike a poignant tone during the movie’s epilogue for a heartfelt tribute to the series’ fallen star.
As far as the film’s plot is concerned, it’s a Macguffin-laden exercise that’s solely constructed to provide opportunities for various forms of vehicular mayhem. Having put a world of hurt on terrorist Owen Shaw (Luke Evans) in the previous entry, Dom (Vin Diesel) and his crew find themselves in the crosshairs of his brother Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham), who’s out for revenge. Unexpected help with this problem comes in the form of a shadow agent (Kurt Russell, a welcome addition) with an army of his own who promises to help Dom with his assassin problem if he and his cohorts track down and recover a surveillance program known as the God’s Eye. This, along with its inventor Ramsey (Nathalie Emmaunuel), the sexiest computer geek ever, has gone missing. Global automotive mayhem ensues as this quest takes us from the streets of L.A. to Azerbaijani to Abu Dhabi and back again.
Along the way Lettie (Michelle Rodriguez) is still wrestling with her memory loss, Brian (Walker) struggles with the notion of settling down with his wife Mia (Jordana Brewster) and their son, and Roman (Tyrese Gibson) and Tej (Ludacris) continue to crack wise, providing leaden comic relief. Meanwhile, Agent Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) is laid low early on when Deckard drops by his office to hack into his files and deliver a beat down.
The franchise has driven itself into a corner by continually upping the ante where stunts are concerned and at about halfway through episode six, the franchise became more Tex Avery cartoon than glorified drive-in movie. Jumping from cars speeding down highways at 80 mph has become old hat here, and while it’s obvious that you’d do well to check your brain at the door to enjoy these films, Furious 7 obliterates the notion of reality with action sequences that gleefully belong to a world where physics simply don’t exist. Car chases abound, the one during the film’s final act on the streets of L.A. seemingly going on forever. The film’s centerpiece revolves around five cars being dropped from a flying fortress and parachuting into a heavily fortified area to intercept a convoy. It’s some kind of stupid, yet thrilling at the same time. As for the sports car that starts on the upper floor of an Abu Dhabi high rise and crashes through two others, the less said the better.
I wish that the cast seemed to have as much fun as Wan is behind the camera. Diesel’s continuing glower-and-growl act has become tired and annoying while Rodriguez’s unconvincing tortured looks would be too broad for even a middle school melodrama. Walker will be missed, as he grounded these films with humanistic, low-key performances that, in their sincerity, proved an effect counterpoint to Diesel’s bluff and bluster. Johnson seems to be the only one in tune with how ridiculous this all is, delivering a turn that’s a knowing parody on his bigger-than-life image.
In the end, Furious 7 will rake in boatloads of cash and send its fans away sated what with the delirious automotive acrobats it has on display and the melodramatic conflicts it hamfistedly brings to a close.
