Furious Seven Review
Friday, April 3. 2015
Re-watching the Fast & Furious series in preparation for Furious Seven, one of the things that reasserted itself was how much of its success came from the cast. When The Fast & the Furious came out in the summer of 2001, it was just another summer action flick with a modest budget and relatively unknown actors. But the chemistry among the cast (particularly Paul Walker and Vin Diesel) was palpable, and audiences responded. Some 12 years later, that bond was broken by a real life tragedy, altering the movie that was then in development.
The bulk of the movie contains all the necessary components of the Fast & Furious franchise: fast cars, Toretto's extended family, and ever-increasing stakes. Jason Statham is added to the cast as the big bad, with Tony Jaa and Ronda Rousey in smaller roles as one-on-one antagonists (Jaa v. Paul Walker in two scenes, Rousey v. Michelle Rodriguez in another). We're also introduced to Kurt Russell as "Mr. Nobody," a government agent who helps get the wheels turning. Noel Gugliemi and Lucas Black both had cameos, reprising their roles of Hector from TF&TF and Sean from Tokyo Drift, respectively. Despite the growing cast, there was always enough for everyone to keep busy without things feeling too crowded.
Stunts were likewise spectacular, including building jumps, airplane drops, people jumping from one moving car to another, and Dwayne Johnson's Agent Hobbs wielding a minigun he physically ripped off the bottom of a drone. We also got to revisit Race Wars, saw Dom perform an unlikely wheelie, and witnessed fight scenes that would be impossible in real life.
The only part of the movie that did not work flawlessly was the emotional core, though it was through no fault of anyone involved. That main arc was supposed to be between Dom and Letty, and while it was fairly well done, it paled in comparison to the real feelings that everyone clearly felt when saying good-bye to Paul Walker's Brian O'Conner. The ending was beautifully done, retiring Brian with dignity and giving him a wonderful life to move on with.
Overall, Furious Seven was a fantastic addition to the series and well worth seeing on the big screen.
Collector/Modeler Interest:
Jada has 1:24 scale diecasts and R/C toys based on cars used in the movie, including Dom's Chargers, Brian's GT-R, Letty's Challenger, and others.
The bulk of the movie contains all the necessary components of the Fast & Furious franchise: fast cars, Toretto's extended family, and ever-increasing stakes. Jason Statham is added to the cast as the big bad, with Tony Jaa and Ronda Rousey in smaller roles as one-on-one antagonists (Jaa v. Paul Walker in two scenes, Rousey v. Michelle Rodriguez in another). We're also introduced to Kurt Russell as "Mr. Nobody," a government agent who helps get the wheels turning. Noel Gugliemi and Lucas Black both had cameos, reprising their roles of Hector from TF&TF and Sean from Tokyo Drift, respectively. Despite the growing cast, there was always enough for everyone to keep busy without things feeling too crowded.
Stunts were likewise spectacular, including building jumps, airplane drops, people jumping from one moving car to another, and Dwayne Johnson's Agent Hobbs wielding a minigun he physically ripped off the bottom of a drone. We also got to revisit Race Wars, saw Dom perform an unlikely wheelie, and witnessed fight scenes that would be impossible in real life.
The only part of the movie that did not work flawlessly was the emotional core, though it was through no fault of anyone involved. That main arc was supposed to be between Dom and Letty, and while it was fairly well done, it paled in comparison to the real feelings that everyone clearly felt when saying good-bye to Paul Walker's Brian O'Conner. The ending was beautifully done, retiring Brian with dignity and giving him a wonderful life to move on with.
Overall, Furious Seven was a fantastic addition to the series and well worth seeing on the big screen.
Collector/Modeler Interest:
Jada has 1:24 scale diecasts and R/C toys based on cars used in the movie, including Dom's Chargers, Brian's GT-R, Letty's Challenger, and others.
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