Monday, April 6, 2015

Review of FURIOUS 7: Activated Adrenaline

April 6, 2015




"Furious 7" follows the same adrenaline rush formula that fueled the first six film in the franchise to box-office success. The barely-there story just functions to string together some of the most memorable and impossibly spectacular stunts involving the most muscular cars ever captured on film. As the stunts get more and more complex and incredible, there is a dramatic real-life twist that would challenge the filmmakers further for this seventh installment, and that is the death of star Paul Walker in, as fate would have it, a race car accident. How they deal with Walker's death in the film will be a matter of curiosity among fans of this franchise. 

The plot here follows right from FF6. Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham), a Black-Ops savvy brother of a former fallen enemy, is out for revenge big time. Striking a deal with a secret government agent code-named Mr. Nobody (Kurt Russell), Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) and his posse rescues Ramsey (Nathalie Emmanuel), a hacker who had been kidnapped by Jakande (Djimon Hounsou), a terrorist with military-grade firepower. Ramsey had developed God's Eye, a powerful tracking system which can use all available digital devices around to locate any subject.

On the action front, this film is on adrenaline overload as the gang goes from Los Angeles and Tokyo, to Azerbaijan and Abu Dhabi.. The cars here don't only look great, they also do the most amazing things. I'm sure it was really very hard to top the already over-the-top stunts we saw in FF6, but the insane stunts we see here in FF7 could definitely match them. Cars jumping out of planes ( a major stunt dubbed "air drop"), cars hurtling down cliffs, cars jumping from skyscraper to skyscraper -- they have got it all here! 

With Jason Statham there in the mix as the main antagonist, there would not be a dearth of heart-stopping, bone-crunching mano-a-mano fights. Right off the bat, Statham would engage Dwayne Johnson in a hard-hitting brawl that destroys an entire office. Of course, there will also be a climactic Aston Martin-smashing face-off with Vin Diesel himself at the end. Paul Walker had his own breathtaking fight inside a moving van against Thai martial arts star Tony Jaa. Michele Rodriguez had her dynamic fight scene in full evening gown regalia vs. MMA star Ronda Rousey in an elegant penthouse suite.

The FF series is as much about family as it about action, and this is not forgotten here. Toretto is dealing with the amnesia suffered by his wife Letty. Walker's character Brian is trying to quietly settle down as a family man with Dom's sister, Mia (Jordana Brewster).The much-anticipated final send-off and goodbye to Paul Walker was touching yet very manly. 

Director James Wan takes a break from his horror films and successfully orchestrates these visually spectacular out-of-this world vehicular stunts with his crew. They were also able to give Paul Walker a fitting and dignified farewell. The scenes where Paul's real life brothers Caleb and Cody stand-in for him were not obvious as the editing was very well done. 

Of course, they made Toretto and company virtually superheroes the way they can emerge from all those incredibly dangerous situations unscathed. It does seem absurd, but isn't this really how fans consider them? The "humor" of Tyrese Gibson's character Roman can be groan-inducing, especially in that party scene, but I'd say it's tolerable.

Overall, I would say that this particular installment of the FF series definitely achieved what it set out to do.  This is a very entertaining film indeed. The Lykan HyperSport and Nathalie Emmanuel look fantastic. When put side by side with the other FF films I've seen though, I think Fast 5 and FF 6 were still better than this. 7/10.


19 comments:

  1. I can't wait to catch the show. Sad to think about PW once again.. but good to hear that they edit the scenes with caleb and cody well..

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  2. I haven't seen the movie yet but can't wait to watch it.. I want to see how they managed to make the movie without Paul Walker

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  3. It's always sad to hear of the passing of one's favourite celebrity. I always love the cars featured in FF movies.

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  4. Action scenes and humour are always a good mix. I'm not sure if I can hold back the tears during the tribute even though I wasn't a great fan of PW

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  5. Although I am not a big action movies fan but this one I am surely going to watch.

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  6. Haven't seen it yet and this is making me all the more excited to watch it. So they did deliver on what they set out to do on this 7th installment. Thanks for the write up! Looking forward to catching the show now more than ever!

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  7. really? I thought Furious 7 is equally good, if not somewhat better than 5 and 6. As there were less CGI and although the Abu Dhabi building thing was too crazy, it's still slightly better than the Plane in 6!

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  8. Ahhh Fred, just like Tiffany - I cannot read your review yet! You are always so spot on and I do not want any spoilers - will come back and fully comment when I have watched the film next week! Sim x

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  9. Followers of this film will cry buckets on the film's tribute to Paul. It's just so sad having to say goodbye...I think the cast didn't need to act on this part.

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  10. Your review just got me hyped up for the film! I've been a fan of the series and the way people talk about Paul Walker's sendoff really really is touching

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  11. So many people is talking about this movie.. I think people should watch it after read your post.. good review

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  12. I have yet to watch it but I like that they gave Paul a proper send off. He'll surely be missed in the future FF films. I hope to squeeze watching this over the weekend.

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  13. This a film that I have been waiting to see. Nice review and good thing Jason Statham is there. Eager din me to see the final send-off and goodbye to Paul Walker scene.

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  14. This a powerful movie and I plan to see it. Great tribute to Paul Walker too.

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  15. This a powerful movie and I plan to see it. Great tribute to Paul Walker too.

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  16. Let me know if my comment went through!

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  17. Everyone's raving about this movie! I'm not particularly into this kind of genre but would def watch it of Paul Walker. :)

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  18. Movie of the year! Gonna watch this soon.

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  19. I have yet to see this movie and have been meaning to do so but life took over. Will probably go and see it some time this week.

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