Seven films deep into the Fast and Furious film series, there’s very little to be done to convince non-fans that this would be a ripe time to hop aboard. The whole enterprise itself is an anomaly. It’s a box-office juggernaut with a strangely complex mythology and interwoven timeline born of a franchise that was trying to course-correct in fits and starts, only to stumble upon a wonderfully diverse and genuinely likable ensemble culled from each of the first four films. But the faithful who love this series’ very earnest blend of massive set-pieces with familial melodrama will be happy to know that Furious Seven continues to up the ante with bigger and more audacious action spectacle without losing sight of the supremely silly heart at its center.
To attempt to explain the breathlessly-paced plot that propels this 137-minute behemoth would be folly, and it is mostly perfunctory, getting the gang back together to chase a technological Macguffin that could prove deadly in the wrong hands — hands that happen to belong to action movie deity Jason Statham. Statham’s Deckard Shaw is the brother of Luke Evans’ villain from the sixth installment, and he’s out for blood to compensate for what the gang did to his family. For some franchises, these kind of more personalized stakes would lead to a more street-level and intimate action picture, but instead we have the biggest and boldest set pieces yet attempted – including a daring rescue mission staged on the side of a mountain that is an action movie all-timer. Despite this inflated running time, the film doesn’t sag under its weight. It instead leaves you exhausted, having run a cinematic marathon of breathless action filmmaking.
One of the main questions surrounding Furious 7 was how they’d manage to complete the film once Paul Walker passed away unexpectedly in the middle of shooting, and I’m happy to report they manage it with a surprising amount of grace and class. The seams showing only infrequently amidst the chaos (body doubles, computer-generated face-swapping, and footage from previous films all combine to complete his performance), it’s a worthy tribute to an actor whose genuine screen presence helped make this series what it was and I can guarantee a fair amount of tears being shed amongst theatergoers this weekend as this film pays tribute.
It’s hard to imagine the creatives in charge of steering this billion-dollar enterprise managing to continue this high-wire act in perpetuity. Furious Seven (at least on this first viewing) is a step below the previous two entries despite its gonzo action sequences, losing a bit of its luster by relegating The Rock to the sidelines for much of the picture and having lost a few of its massive ensemble due to the ever-increasing stakes they’ve established. James Wan (Insidious, The Conjuring) has a bit more frenetic style of shooting and editing than previous helmer Justin Lin, but he proves himself more than capable of handling this massive undertaking. It would’ve been nice for this film to have a bigger female presence (instead of a bigger presence of slow motion shots of female’s posteriors) and to finally allow Michelle Rodriguez the chance to cave in some male skulls instead of pairing her off with a female counterpart for her now-requisite fight sequence. But these are minor pittances in the face of what is a wildly entertaining motion picture, a film that manages to combine absurd action with a genuinely moving tribute to a fallen comrade.
