Movie Review Repost - Furious 7 (2015)

In my review of Independence Day 2, I mentioned how the original Independence Day was a big, dumb pile of fun. So I thought now might be a good time to show you a review I did for one of those types of movies, Furious 7. Since April 2015 my feelings on this movie haven't changed; it's a prime example of mindless entertainment.

   It's once again time to return to that inexplicably long-running film series that keeps changing its title with each passing outing. I'd just like to point out that before Furious 7, the only Fn'F films I had previously seen were 2 Fast 2 Furious and The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, the latter of which you may remember (Who am I kidding? No, you don't) being on my list of Top 10 Worst Movies I've Ever Seen... my expectations were not high.

   But this one was alright. Furious 7 follows Dominic Toretto and his team as they take on a vengeful assassin working for a terrorist network. The film even dares to tie itself into the plot of Tokyo Drift, apparently becoming the first movie to take place after that one. Anyways, Furious 7 offers lots of wild, over-the-top action with impressive stunt work and lots of explosions. And to cap it all off, we're given a touching tribute to the late Paul Walker at the end.

   The film boasts an ensemble cast – Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Michelle Rodriguez, Kurt Russel, Jason Statham, Dwayne Johnson, Ludacris, Tyrese Gibson – and they each do a fine job, even if their comedic banter doesn't always achieve the laughs they're going for. But the one-liners have just the right amount of cheesiness, and Jason Statham is an amazing villain. Paul Walker's passing, which no doubt contributed to this film becoming the fifth-highest grossing movie of all time, necessitated some obvious script rewrites. You can tell that his character was originally meant to have a bigger role.

   Probably this film's biggest problem is its editing. Besides having random fast-forwards and pointless jump cuts (seriously, was this shot in 2002?) Furious 7's fight scenes also suffer from that familiar choppy editing that nearly renders them unwatchable; this probably made it easier to pass off Walker's doubles. The driving scenes look OK though. The cinematography was a little high-strung as well; there's a lot of tracking and rotating camera shots for scenes that only have people talking. It's not necessary.

   Obviously Furious 7 is an over-the-top action flick, but there's just a few things that one's suspension of disbelief can't hold up. Like, why did agent Hobbs have his weapons and gear with him in his hospital room? How was Dominic able to lift up a suped-up million dollar car fitted with armour plating? And how do none of the drivers ever get hurt? Aside from walking away from nightmarish crashes without a scratch, I think every main character jumps out of a speeding car at least once. And not a single bone was broken. Needless to say, don't try this at home.

   I have to admit I was fully prepared to hate this movie, but it's actually not that bad. It's not your thinking man's action movie, but it's entertaining enough. It's the kind of movie Michael Bay wishes he could make; and since it isn't as boring it presents a decent alternative to the Transformers movies.

Rating: three stars out of five.