Feud brewing in the family.
The Fast and Furious Family returns to take down a megalomaniacal
Charlize Theron, whose force of black hat resources set out to upend the political
status quo of the world.
Her secret weapon to pulling all of this off is the family’s
own head, Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel), forced to work for her agenda and against
his family after coercing her into compliance with a haunting new revelation.
As always, the synopsis may seem convoluted but behind the
veils of soap opera drama, big reveals, and reverse double crosses for a series
that almost seems to put more effort into its writing over time for reasons
that boggle the mind, “Fate of the Furious” is all about creative action set
pieces choreographed with fast and stylish cars that are practically characters
themselves.
In that regard, the film easily delivers a blast and a half
of an experience that was so briskly paced that by the time the Third Act
climax kicked into gear, I was more floored by my watch telling me that I had
already been in my seat for an hour and a half than by the brilliantly
conceived of chase and battle between 4 cars, only one of which is fully
weaponized, and a nuclear submarine.
I’ve been an unapologetic fan of the “Fast and Furious”
franchise for quite some time now and the turning point for the better of that
appreciation all stems from the moment this series decided to extend its
lifespan by fully embracing its own unintentional brilliance as an ironic joke
that sincerely rolls with the ludicrous momentum of its own escalation.
For almost 8 years now, this series has basically embraced a
more comic bookish atmosphere, welcoming the camp and generally playing well by
its own rules while keeping enough mildly enticing character appeal alive
through melodrama carried by passable actors whose true strength is that they actually
share the chemistry and rapport with one another that they desperately want the
audience to find endearing about this “family.”
Their charm, the series’ sensory stylings, and a regularly
stupendous eye for choreography and tension with cars, whether for chases or street
races, have helped this franchise evolve from what it started out as and
continue to serve it well with regard to “Fate of the Furious,” making it
easily worth a matinee if, like me, you understand what you’re going into at
this point and appreciate the method to the madness at play under the hood.
All of this is despite the film admittedly needing to dial
back on its wake of destruction, this time taking the form of a city full of computerized
and hacked “zombie” cars that do little but add overkill to a scene that could
have just been a prolonged chase scene with demolition derby aspects thrown
into the mix.
Unfortunately, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that
the movie comes with a fair amount of baggage that not only holds it back from
more acclaim but makes me fear for the future of the series when it still has
at least 2 more films to go before it reaches a firm resting point.
One major aspect of that baggage unfortunately lies at the
heels of its primary antagonist. Charlize Theron is an undisputedly talented
actress but her presence is sadly wasted, as villainous super hacker Cipher in
what may be the single most out of place element to pop up thus far in a film
saga that has somehow managed to evolve from street racing and cop drama to
international espionage that’s still a better time than any of the “Mission
Impossible” flicks.
The spy oriented stuff began to rear its head in full with “Furious
7” as a means to an end for its own action sequences and made little sense
their either but at least had the benefit of being minimalized with a laughable
exposition dump delivered by a hypnotically charismatic Kurt Russell who
stepped into his role within the ensemble with relative ease.
This was additionally helped by said subplot essentially
serving as an obstacle to the film’s real endgame, Jason Statham as Deckard
Shaw, a man seeking revenge on the heroes for the harm inflicted upon his
brother, “Fast and Furious 6” villain Owen Shaw, a mercenary only out for the
best payday opportunity, following a series of villains ranging from street
cred slinging bullies to organized crime big wigs. They may not be particularly
complex but they’re at least all immediately understandable.
Not only does Theron’s cartoonish faux philosophical droning
about the illusion of free will and the abstract nature of emotional attachment
and plans of inducing nuclear genocide as a means of “holding political leaders
accountable” become so embarrassing even by this franchise’s own exaggerated standards
it would be more at home on a Saturday morning cartoon, it slowly brings to the
forefront aspects of the films premise that were not meant for prolonged
exposure.
Maybe the extremes of this character’s one note nature would
be mitigated by the mere opportunity to ride alongside the Furious Family once
more but that’s where “Fate of the Furious” instills more than a little bit of
fear for the future.
Building the bulk of the series’ dramatic arc and humanity
around the character of Brian has left an unfortunate hole in its core dynamic
that the film admirably makes a desperate attempt to work through but never
quite manages to recreate the magic in full.
The late Paul Walker’s role in the movie may have seemed
basic but he carried it out well and proves how much of a team effort holding
all of this together really is. Without him, the series is forced to pivot on
Vin Diesel to carry even more of the film’s heart and while it manages to cross
the finish line, the end results are more than a little lacking.
Without him, Tyrese Gibson lacks a true charismatic equal,
throwing off the casts glowing sense of chemistry and his open slot on the team
unfortunately results in several ham-fisted attempts to put Statham through a
redemption arc, along with introducing Scott Eastwood to the cast who is saved
from being forgotten as quickly as “Tokyo Drift’s” Lucas Black by being a
substantially better yet nonetheless underwhelming actor.
I still have nothing but love for this franchise. Modern
film series’ reaching and 8th installment is borderline unheard of
but the notion that “Fast and Furious” is somehow projected to hit 10 films
with over 50% of its development being a regularly steady climb in quality is
almost unprecedented. “Fate of the Furious” offers everything you could
possible ask for out of a blockbuster experience.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t quite go above and beyond the call
of duty in the manner that it has begun to become famous for and with 2 more
films to go, I’m left wondering if they can keep momentum going just long
enough for a graceful bow out or completely fall apart at the finish line like
the Bluesmobile.
5 Familial Proclamations out of 10
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