Not entirely sure why they keep messing with the names of the movies but whatever.
NOTE: Since this is a Fast & Furious film and also considered a blockbuster, this review won't be reviewed the same way as an Oscar contender would.
Furious 7 is the 7th installment of The Fast and Furious series whose humble beginnings started back in 2001. As an overall fan of the series (there are a few I don't like, namely Tokyo Drift and Fast 6) I was reasonably excited for this new one.
Furious 7 sees horror heavyweight director James Wan of The Conjuring and Insidious films taking over duties from Justin Lin who had directed the past 4 films. The usual cast is back with the only real additions being Kurt Russell and Jason Statham, both of which are badass. Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Ludacris, Tyrese Gibson, The Rock, Michelle Rodriguez and Jordana Brewster all reprise their roles.
So the first half hour-ish of this movie is just bad, I was so uninterested in it that I was praying it picked up. Luckily, it did. Once the action picks up in this movie it barely gives you time to breathe which is awesome and exactly what you want from a movie like this.
Where the hell was The Rock in this movie? I swear he had 20 minutes of screen time in this 147 film, he's by far been the best part of the last 2 movies and you could argue a main reason these movies are still going. That was a big mistake on the films part. The film also relies on Vin Diesel quite a lot, I assume these scenes were originally supposed to have Paul Walker in them but I'll get to that later, and Diesel's acting really isn't enough to carry the more dialogue driven aspects of the movie.
As I said earlier, once the movie picks up, it's awesome. Movies like these, you really need to turn your brain and try not to think "there's no way that could happen" which I only said to myself one time in this movie which isn't bad since I said it the entire 6th movie. The cast has unbelievably good chemistry which they should since they've had umpteen movies working together now and I think Ludacris and Tyrese Gibsons characters are my new favorites because their banter back and forth is hysterical.
Now, to the Paul Walker situation. Walker died about halfway through filming and they used what he finished in the film and had a combination of stand ins and CGI used to finish his scenes which I respect as their decision. Some of the scenes are incredibly easy to tell that it's his stand in doing the scene which I can't really fault the film for because they did the best they could and if I didn't know that Walker had died midway through, I might not be able to tell. They also reference not wanting to go to anymore funerals in the beginning of the movie which is rather haunting to watch and hear. I thought the send off they gave Paul Walker and his character were the best they could've done and was done with great respect.
Overall: It's a fun movie, it's one of the better ones in the series for me. The action was done well and the cast as always has great chemistry. The problems I have with the movie are pretty minor, minus the awful first 30 minutes of it. They've said already that they're making an 8th movie and I really hope it's the last because this one really wrapped up beautifully and I wish it was the last one.
Rewatchability: 3/5, I'll probably watch it again but it's definitely not a go to, other movies in the franchise would beat out this one if I wanted to watch one of them.
Rating: 3.5/5
