Fast & Furious – People Talking

Movie Review – ‘Hobbs & Shaw’ – #FAMILY First

Directed by David Leitch
Written by Chris Morgan (story and screenplay) and Drew Pearce (screenplay), based on characters created by Gary Scott Thompson
Cast: Dwayne Johnson, Jason Statham, Idris Elba, Vanessa Kirby, Eiza González, Eddie Marsan, Helen Mirren, Cliff Curtis, Eliana Sua, Lori Pelenise Tuisano, Joe ‘Roman Reigns’ Anoa’i, Josh Mauga, John Tui
Soundtrack: Tyler Bates

So, the franchise of crazy big heist/street racing movies that began with a simple Point Break-with-cars premise that revolved around stealing DVD players is now getting spin-offs?

You know what? I’m fine with that.

After Furious 7, I really didn’t need another full-blown Fast & Furious movie, but we got Fast 8 anyway, which in the end was passable, but I’ll probably never watch it again.

Hobbs & Shaw, on the other hand, while it has some problems, never took me to a place where I said, “You know, I think I’m done with this.” I know that sounds like a back-handed compliment, but, after Fast 8, I really just needed something that was consistently fun, which Hobbs & Shaw delivers (sort of like Solo following the frustrations of Rogue One and The Last Jedi).

As you might glean from the title, this movie is essentially Tango & Cash on steroids, with a good bit of classic James Bond/modern Mission: Impossible mixed in for good measure (not too surprising given writer Drew Pearce worked on Rogue Nation).

Its only real downfall is twofold: some ham-fisted messaging about teamwork, and its length (which is ballooned by some cameos that are fine unto themselves, but questionable as to whether they needed to make the final cut). As much as I love Fast Five, it also set the precedent that these movies all need to be 130 minutes long, which they don’t, but Hobbs & Shaw leans into that anyway (in contrast, Tango & Cash clocks in at a comparatively lean 104 minutes).

Still, by and large, Hobbs & Shaw is reasonably well-executed and a lot of fun, no doubt because of the chases and explosions and punching (I mean, that’s why we’re here), but also thanks to the lead performances. The Rock and Jason Statham are everything we’ve come to expect from them (some of the quipping is a bit much, but forgivable), but the true savior of the film is Vanessa Kirby, who’s smart, charming, and properly humorous when necessary (like what I think Captain Marvel was going for, but failed), but also handles the action surprisingly well (a la Colin Firth in Kingsman).

Not a life-changing film by any stretch, but if you need an action fix that isn’t just all headshots all the time, it’ll do just fine.

Rating: ★★★½ (out of five)

Movie Review – ‘The Fate of the Furious’ – Stylistically Designed To Be That Way

Directed by F. Gary Gray
Written by Chris Morgan based on characters created by Gary Scott Thompson
Cast: Vin Diesel, Jason Statham, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, Charlize Theron, Kurt Russell, Nathalie Emmanuel, Luke Evans, Elsa Pataky, Kristofer Hivju, Scott Eastwood, Patrick St. Esprit, Olek Krupa, Tego Calderon, Don Omar, Helen Mirren
Soundtrack: Brian Tyler

I can’t imagine all the way back in 2001 when Rob Cohen was directing The Fast and The Furious that he had any idea his little “Point Break with street racing” movie would eventually evolve into a series of roided-out Italian Jobs (fun fact: the 2003 remake was also directed by F. Gary Gray), let alone whatever The Fate of the Furious is (not to mention F&F is the most successful franchise in Universal’s history). At this point we’ve gone past full-circle and have left orbit on an entirely new trajectory, one that, frankly, I’m not entirely comfortable with.

Again, “Most movies have problems unless you’re Ghost Busters or The Rocketeer,” but The Fate of The Furious has some deep issues.

First of all, I said in my review of Furious 7 that I hope the series doesn’t continue on without Paul Walker, and I now feel completely justified. His absence is painfully obvious, and a reference to him by the characters is only salt in the wound. It’s a tough spot to be in, but, I can’t help thinking it should’ve been handled better.

Secondly, this movie finally manages to go too far in a few places (in a bad way), namely shakycam, magical hacking, and scenes that just make you wonder, “How did we arrive here with this franchise?” I mean, I’ve looked the other way on certain square pegs being hammered into round holes to make these movies fit together, but there’s a limit, and F8 reached it. I don’t mind hand-to-hand combat and gunplay in my action movies, but there was an inappropriate amount of it for this crew.

Worst of all though, this movie got too dark for me (sometimes literally), at least in terms of what the franchise is. For sure, serious things have happened before in the F&F universe (characters have been killed, family members threatened, etc.), but, again, this one went too far. I’m a little tired of the dark, gritty Nolan-ization of Hollywood in general (not that I don’t love Christopher Nolan, but not everything has the be The Dark Knight), but I never expected Fast & Furious to go that hard in the paint. At a certain point, I actually said to myself while watching F8, “I’m not having fun anymore. Remember when these movies were fun?”

All that said…

Just when I thought I was out, THEY PULL ME BACK IN.

Despite all of its flaws (including a lackluster performance from Charlize Theron, though I don’t necessarily blame her), I think I did enjoy this movie overall. I certainly didn’t feel ripped off in the end. It’s obviously flawed, and it’s on the bottom end of Fast & Furious movies, but there’s enough total entertainment value (aka things that are over the top in a good way) for me to give it more than a non-recommendation, provided you know what you’re getting into going in.

Catch it on a matinee if you want to be safe, but I won’t talk you out of seeing it.

Rating: ★★★½ (out of five)

Movie Review – ‘Furious 7’ – We Are Groot

Directed by James Wan
Written by Chris Morgan based on characters created by Gary Scott Thompson
Cast: Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Michelle Rodriguez, Jordana Brewster, Tyrese Gibson, Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, Lucas Black, Jason Statham, Kurt Russell, Nathalie Emmanuel, Tony Jaa, Djimon Hounsou, Ronda Rousey, Gal Gadot
Soundtrack: Brian Tyler

It’s kind of hard to explain the appeal of the ‘Fast & Furious’ movies to those who are uninitiated, or even those who maybe saw the first one but stopped there.

They’re not high art, obviously, but, you know what? I have to say, they reward you for sticking around.

Unlike other “franchises” that simply churn out movies with similar titles but feature totally unrelated characters, ‘Fast & Furious’ has always made an effort to keep things tied together (yes, even that ‘Tokyo Drift’ one, albeit loosely); and while it did take about four movies to truly earn that franchise tag (as opposed to merely a series), it can be forgiven for taking its time (after all, it took ‘Friday the 13th’ three movies to find Jason’s trademark hockey mask). Sure, sometimes plots and characterizations have to be hammered out from movie to movie in order to make it all fit, like pounding puzzle pieces together rather than just placing them down, but I appreciate the effort nonetheless.

Anyway, here’s a recap for those who may need a refresher:

‘The Fast and the Furious‘ was released in the summer of 2001 and is basically ‘Point Break‘ with street racing instead of surfing (and I’d argue that it executes certain elements better than ‘Point Break’, but that’s neither here nor there). It certainly punches you in the face with a lot of pre-9/11 zazz, but the cars are pretty and the action is largely practical, tense, and well-executed (and also Ted Levine is in it). Definitely worth a watch.

‘2 Fast 2 Furious‘ came out two summers later in 2003, and is a sequel’s sequel. A few cast members are back, but not all, and there’s a new director, but, on the whole, the tone and color is consistent with the first film, and the action is still largely practical and well-executed. A few of the performances are a bit grating, but I still recommend this one based on the strength of the visuals.

2006 brought us ‘The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift‘, which almost goes full Halloween III on us by introducing entirely new characters and plot lines (not to mention, you know, Japan), but just manages to tie things in at the very end. ‘Tokyo Drift’ also introduces the lovable “Han” (played by Sung Kang) who would feature prominently in the next three installments.

2009’s ‘Fast & Furious‘ brings back the bulk of the main cast from the original movie plus a couple more from 2 and 3. The plot is essentially a same-but-different version of the first two films, with a couple more twists. Stylistically, this one represents a shift away from simpler and more practical action set-pieces to more ambitious but more CGI-reliant ones. It’s definitely not my favorite.

A new decade delivers the game-changer, ‘Fast Five‘, released in 2011. There are still super cars, there will always be super cars, but this one moves away almost entirely from the whole street racing theme to become something of a roided-out ‘Italian Job’. The Rock enters; one last face from the original pops his head in; and the laws of physics are done away with. It’s different, but most, including me, agree it’s one of the best in the franchise.

‘Fast & Furious 6‘, from 2013, finds our heroes living the good life in non-extradition countries after their successful Rio heist, but The Rock has a mission that only they can handle, and will give them their freedom in America if they pull it off. I enjoyed the continuation of the overall story in this one, but felt the action was over-the-top (especially at the end) to the point of almost boredom. Then again, it’s got Gina Carano, so, sold.

All of this brings us to the mission at hand, which is the ‘Furious 7’.

Truth be told, I was one of those people who only saw the first movie in theaters and never got around to the others, but the filmmakers did everything they could to sell me on the latest one (namely Jason Statham and Kurt Russell), so last weekend I decided to catch up and watch six movies in one day. I didn’t know if I’d be able to handle it, but it turned out to be less hazardous than ‘The Hobbit’ marathon, so I’d say it was worth it.

Like I said, the ‘Fast & Furious’ franchise has always been good about tying things together, so I definitely got the full experience of ‘Furious 7’ thanks to my catching up, as there are callbacks that go even as far back as the original film, but does it work as it’s own movie? That’s a tough question for me to answer, but I’m leaning towards yes. The beauty of action movies is that they don’t have to be perfect in order to be perfectly entertaining.

Compared to ‘Fast 6’, the action in ‘Furious 7’ is scaled back and more down-to-earth, which I appreciate, and it seems like there was a concerted effort to have more actual vehicles blowing up. There’s still more CGI than I personally would like, but it’s fairly balanced. Location-wise, there’s a nice big return to LA, which fans of the original will appreciate.

Really though, as much as these movies are about action, they’re also about FAMILY, and in that regard, this one’s a bittersweet affair in light of Paul Walker’s death (kind of like ‘The Crow’). I don’t know if they plan on continuing the series without him, I kind of hope they don’t, but for this one I think they handled the circumstances well. It’s a fitting tribute to a man who was beloved by many.

So, is ‘Furious 7’ worth your time and money? I’ll say yes. Even if you’re not a fan of the series but you’re in the mood for a good action flick, it’s a good’n. For hardcore fans of the series, it’s probably in the top three (my personal ranking would be 1, 2, 7, 5, 3, 6, 4). Go check it out at your local movie house.

Rating: ★★★★☆

RIP Paul Walker