Mission: Furious-ly Impossible

Last April Captain America: The Winter Soldier opened, thus ushering in a new era where the start of the summer blockbuster season has moved from May to April.  This weekend, the seven film in the Fast & Furious franchise, Furious 7, raced into theaters.  I had not seen an F&F film in the theater since the first film because I hadn't been impressed with most of the other six films.  I thought the second and third were horrible but, like Harry Potter, the fourth film sucked me back in.  Of course I walked into Furious 7 knowing it was going to be filled with even more unbelievable action and stunts we'd come to expect from Fast & Furious.  But those stunts have never been more un-believable than this.

In this installment of the franchise Vin Diesel and his crew are back and are being hunted by an old enemy's brother, played by Jason Statham, who is looking for revenge.  Enter Kurt Russell, playing a CIA operative, who agrees to help the F&F team take out Statham's character if they help him retrieve a valuable hacker and her software from foreign terrorists.  There are several other subplots in the film like Michelle Rodriguez's character trying to regain her memories, and Paul Walker's character adjusting to domestic life.  But neither of those subplot's were important I think. 

This film had a good Missions: Impossible/heist vibe to it, which was better than the last couple M:I films in my opinion.  Maybe Vin Diesel should take over for Tom Cruise.  In any event, Furious 7 takes another leap forward in giving us realistic action that actually isn't realistic.  That scene in the previews where Diesel jumps a car between too buildings? That is actually more believable than some other things that happen in the film like tumbling down a mountain in a wrecked car, and then just dusting yourself off.  Or Diesel and Statham's fight where they throw lots of punches and get hit by wrenches, but neither of them are bleeding.  Oh, and they get trapped under a parking garage and both end up ok.  I think the franchise finally stuck their toe over that line of believability.  And whoever picked that epic fight music when Diesel and Statham run at each other in slow motion needs to look at the other F&F films and realize it doesn't fit at all in this movie.  

However, the actions sequences, as always, were the best part of this F&F film.  When the adrenaline was pumping the film was at it's best and most enjoyable level.  The emotional scenes, that the actors were not able to pull off, were the hardest part to watch.  I like Michelle Rodriguez in the first F&F film, but her and Diesel don't have the range, nor chemistry, to pull off a complex love story where he is trying to make her remember their love story due to her amnesia.  That kind of soap opera belongs nowhere in this franchise.  The better subplot I thought was brought to us by Walker.  But as a father myself, maybe I just related more to letting go of the wild life and settling down for the sake of your family.

The rest of the cast was just background noise that delivered cheesy one-liners.  Like in Guardians of the Galaxy, actor Djimon Hounsou is way too good of an actor to be used so little.  Dwayne Johnson, who will always be The Rock to me, was also barely in the film.  Which was sad because I think he's actually the best actor in the F&F bunch.  He does have a nice moment at the end when he destroys a drone with an ambulance and then, what do you know, walks away ok.  Also, him handling a machine gun did give me G.I. Joe flashbacks.  

Director James Wan and his team had a difficult job after the loss of Paul Walker.  They didn't know whether to edit him out of the film, continue the film as is, or scrap the whole movie altogether.  The Fast & Furious franchise has always been about Walker and Diesel's characters.  I could tell this film tried to shift everything more on Diesel and less on Walker.  But no matter how I feel about the somewhat laughable style of the film, the final send off for Paul Walker had me choked up and almost teary eyed.   You knew this was Diesel and crew truly saying goodbye to their friend and brother.  I'm curious how the Fast & Furious will continue without Paul Walker.  His character was my favorite in the franchise, so I'm not sure if I'll enjoy it as much without him in it.  But with Furious 7 already breaking box office records you can be sure this ride will continue.

RATING: C-