Review #1,221: 'Fast & Furious 8' (2017)

By the time Paul Walker bailed and Vin Diesel only bothered to show up for a wink-and-a-smile cameo back in 2003 with the third instalment in the Fast & Furious franchise, Tokyo Drift, it seemed like the series started by Rob Cohen in 2001 as an entertaining Point Break rip-off was done and dusted. 14 years later, the eighth entry sits happily as the eleventh highest-grossing movie of all time, raking in a whopping $1.2 billion at the box-office. Having evolved from low-key crime thrillers with a street-racing twist to all-out, physics-defying spy adventure blockbusters, audiences are clearly not done with Dominic Toretto (Diesel) and his street-hood 'family'. The film's alternate title of The Fate of the Furious - keeping up with the series' trend of frustratingly difficult-to-follow title meddling - suggests that this may be the most ridiculous, balls-to-the-wall spectacle yet, and it certainly lives up to its billing.

Ever since previous fan favourites were cherry-picked to inexplicably form the gang of ass-kickers-for-hire the movies are now built around, the cast has rapidly expanded and individuals have been reduced to little more than the odd one-liner. When Dwayne Johnson's oiled man-mountain Hobbs was introduced to add some spice and charisma to a stagnant series, Vin Diesel found himself in the awkward position of hogging screen-time from an actor everyone would rather be seeing. This is very much Diesel's product and he takes things very seriously, so Fast & Furious 8 sees the two split up into two very tonally different story lines, in a move that may have been made to satisfy the needs of both actors, or to simply keep the two away from each other. Johnson made comments on social media criticising a certain cast member's behaviour, in a thinly-disguised jab at Diesel. The tension isn't evident in the final movie, but it does mean you're likely to spend half the time wishing you were with the former wrestler, especially when he teams up with the returning Jason Statham.

Dom growls and mumbles before turning his back on the gang when his honeymoon with Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) is rudely interrupted by a hacker known as Cipher (Charlize Theron), who blackmails the big lug into stealing an EMP device. Enter exposition device Mr. Nobody (Kurt Russell) and, for some reason, his partner played by Scott Eastwood, who round up the former car-jackers and criminals to steal it back before chaos is unleashed. And so the two stories unfold: One a moody drama that often turns quite violent, and the weirdly erotically-charged, but nevertheless amusing, penis-comparing adventures of Johnson and Statham. When you're watching a movie in which a submarine is 'jacked', it's clear that the mood of the latter better suits the franchise. Diesel's brooding and Theron's phoning-in don't make for particularly entertaining viewing, especially when it follows a scene of hacked autonomous CGI cars swarming through the city streets like a hoard of fast-moving zombies.

Characters seem to fill every inch of the screen, and it was a struggle to remember just what roles returning actors Elsa Pataky, Luke Evans and Djimon Honsou had played previously, although anoraks will have no trouble. To say it is a convoluted mess driven by a McGuffin would be an understatement, and it could be argued that this plot has been done before a few films ago. Nevertheless Fast & Furious 8 delivers when it fires up the nitrous oxide. While there's nothing to match Hobbs' Gatling-gun rampage in part 7, there is a punchy prison breakout scene, Tyrese Gibson ice-skating on a car door, and the aforementioned submarine. You came here for fast cars, and they are worked into the story whether it makes logical sense or not. If only Diesel would lighten up and not take a series built on fun so damn seriously, this could have been so much better. Fingers crossed for the Johnson/Statham spin-off though.


Directed by: F. Gary Gray
Starring: Vin Diesel, Dwayne Johnson, Jason Statham, Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, Ludacris, Charlize Theron, Kurt Russell, Scott Eastwood, Nathalie Emmanuel
Country: USA

Rating: ***

Tom Gillespie

Review #902: 'Fast & Furious 7' (2015)

Pieced back together in the wake of Paul Walker's tragic death in an automobile accident in 2013, the seventh instalment of the Fast & Furious franchise comes with a morbid sense of curiosity. Just how much of the original movie remains, and how will long-serving series advocate Vin Diesel and newcomer director James Wan deal with the fate of Walker's character Brian O'Connor? Thankfully, anyone trying to spot the CGI trickery and attempting to tell Walker from either of his stand-in real-life brothers will be disappointed (although there are some questionable camera angles), and the climactic send-off could not have been more moving.

Fast & Furious 7's (or simply Furious 7 given its alternate title) problems lie elsewhere. Whether it be the cast, the running time, the plot, or the sheer amount of carnage played out on screen, the movie is as bloated as Dwayne Johnson's neck. We have finally caught up to the events of the third instalment, Tokyo Drift (2003), and the gang of loveable ex-cons, ex-cops and gear-heads are drawn out of retirement by the extremely pissed British special forces assassin Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham), who happens to be the older brother of the baddie from the sixth film Owen Shaw (Luke Evans) and is hell-bent on revenge. Sadly, as a straight-forward revenge story is no longer enough to satisfy the masses, Dominic Toretto (Diesel) and his crew are also tasked by a shady government agent dubbed Mr. Nobody (Kurt Russell) to track down God's Eye, an omniscient piece of spy software.

The franchise is now so removed from its original premise of an undercover cop trying to bust a gang of hijackers, that the sight of Dwayne Johnson's oiled and impossibly ripped cop Hobbs firing a huge Gatling gun at a helicopter in the streets during the film's climax will come as no surprise. Characters have died and come back to life, and now display martial arts skills so refined that they can take down the likes of Rhonda Rousey and Tony Jaa in a fist-fight. They are now superheroes, capable of cracking their necks and shaking off a wrench-blow to the head. The preposterousness of it all means that the film-makers are now simply looking to make things bigger than they were last time rather than taking the time of building tension or making things coherent.

So, only two set-pieces really get the adrenaline going - one involving Brian escaping from a coach dangling over the edge of a cliff, and the face-off between the bald pit-bulls Diesel and Statham, as the two go at each other with bits of car wreckage. The film is at its best in it's quieter moments, where comedy-relief characters Roman (Tyrese Gibson) and Tej (Ludacris) squabble over the attentions of super-hacker Ramsey (Nathalie Emmanuel), and Dom and his wife Letty (Michelle Rodriguez), still suffering from amnesia, try to piece together their relationship (though Dom ramming the idea of family being the most important thing down our throats is getting a bit old). Despite it's gaping flaws, there's still something oddly addictive about this series and I'm eager to see if even more sequels will come. and the loving tribute to Walker at the end will bring a tear to the eye of even the most hardened petrol head.


Directed by: James Wan
Starring: Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Jason Statham, Michelle Rodriguez, Jordana Brewster, Tyrese Gibson, Ludacris, Dwayne Johnson, Kurt Russell, Nathalie Emmanuel
Country: USA/Japan

Rating: ***

Tom Gillespie