The Fate of the Furious

The Fast and Furious franchise has lasted longer than anyone might have expected, including its’ filmmakers. The possible extents of the story have been stretched to its limit, finally running out in their most recent iteration, 16 years after the original filmed.

The Fate of the Furious is the eighth film in the franchise, and it’s the first one without Paul Walker, who died in a car crash in 2013. The greatest aspects of Furious 7 were the sentimental appeal and send-off that they gave Walker’s character. It would seem like a perfect ending for the entire series, as the whole story was about Brian (Walker) and Dom’s (Vin Diesel) relationship. But after that film made over $1 billion, we have returned to these characters, this time with Dom turned against his old crew thanks to the coercion of a hacker named Cypher (Charlize Theron).

The Fast and Furious films are notorious for their terrible dialogue, illogical plots, and disregard of physics; so if you blind yourself to those three aspects you might find some enjoyment in this film. I certainly came with low expectations, and was given mild satisfaction, mostly in the shape of a great Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham, who are teamed up to perfection in this iteration of the franchise. There’s a particularly enjoyable prison riot scene near the beginning. However, as the film drones on the action scenes and the story become indistinguishable from every other scene in the previous films.

I can’t honestly wrap this film too badly for its misgivings, since they were pretty much a given from the preproduction stages. The only reasoning I can give to watch this movie is for high dose of testosterone. Don’t come in expecting cinematic genius, and give up any hope that this franchise will ever come up to live to the first film’s hype.

5.6/10