Theatrical poster for “The Fate of
the Furious.”
Photo courtesy of wikipedia.org
“The Fate of the Furious” is the eighth installment in the Fast and Furious franchise, which started in 2001. Some would think that a franchise of eight movies would quickly run out of gas, but #F8 proves that this franchise still has something to offer when it comes to entertainment.
This was one of my most anticipated films of the year, and I am glad to say that it did not disappoint. #F8 is a fun and enthralling action extravaganza that should be witnessed on the biggest screen as soon as possible.
If you go into this film expecting it to be high art, then you will probably end up hating this film. Yes, this film is dumb, and ridiculous, but that is the beauty of it. The film knows exactly what it is trying to be, which is an over the top action film.
They even say midway through the film that, in order to succeed, you must “know your audience.” When it comes to giving an audience what they want, the film is very self-aware, and that is what I love most about this franchise.
#F8 finds Vin Diesel’s character Dominic Toretto betraying his family because a new villain known as Cipher is blackmailing him for reasons that I can not spoil in this review. As simple as this plot may be, the way in which they personify it on screen is incredible. You really do feel sorrow for these characters as things happen.
Charlize Theron also brings out an incredible new villain in Cipher. To me, she was the biggest highlight of the film. Her character was extremely smart and I can’t wait to possible see more of her in future installments.
The main draw of this film, of course, is its action set pieces. Previously, we got cars flying out of airplanes. In this installment, we get cars driving on ice trying to avoid submarine missiles. It is actually incredible how crazy the action gets. There is even one scene in New York City that involves manually remote-controlling cars, and it is one of the most insane things I have ever seen. I was smiling the whole entire time.
One major thing about the film that I did not particularly like, though, was how the main villain of Furious 7, Deckard Shaw, is just placed into the team and ultimately becomes a new member of Dom’s family. In the previous film, this man murdered people important to Dom, and I didn’t think that having him just be a part of the team like that worked very well. His action scenes were fantastic, but his character just did not belong.
All in all, #F8 is a movie that knows exactly what it wants to be. It is a fun action film that does not take itself too seriously, and although it has some problems with Deckard Shaw, it is still pure high-octane entertainment. I would recommend it to anyone who just wants to sit back, laugh and enjoy some glorious action set pieces.
