Review of The Fate of the Furious (2017) by Noah M — 13 Feb 2018

Fast & Furious 8.

(2017).

Plot:

Vin Diesel, Dwayne Johnson and Michelle Rodriguez lead an all-star cast as the global blockbuster franchise delivers its most action-packed, high-octane adrenaline rush yet in 'Fast and Furious 8'. Now that Dom (Diesel) and Letty (Rodriguez) are married, Brian and Mia have retired from the game and the rest of the crew has been exonerated, the globetrotting team has found a semblance of a normal life. But when a mysterious woman (Charlize Theron) seduces Dom into the world of crime he can't seem to escape and must betray those closest to him. From the shores of Cuba and the streets of New York City to the icy plains off the arctic Barents Sea, our elite force will crisscross the globe to stop an anarchist from unleashing chaos on the world's stage...and to bring home the man who made them a family.

Review:

Although I liked the action in this movie, and the comedic moments were quite funny, it didn't touch the previous movies, which all brought fresh and shocking stunts that I haven't seen before. I found Vin Diesel's character, Dom, a bit spooky throughout the film, like he was hypnotised, and I wasn't that impressed with Charlize Theron, Cipher, as the baddie. Surprisingly enough, Jason Statham (Deckard), was the best thing in the film, and I enjoyed the banter between him and the Rock (Hobbs) who looked extremely pumped and full of testosterone. Anyway, after 7 movies of Dom proving how important family is, he turns rouge against his loved ones, due to Cipher, who has kidnapped his ex-girlfriend and there son. Whilst on his honeymoon with his long time girlfriend Letty (Michelle Rodriguez), Cipher approaches him with an ultimatum, which makes him steal important weapons so Cipher can become the most powerful woman in the world. The whole of Dom's gang can tell that something is strange about Dom's behaviour, so they team up to try and work out what exactly is going on. They soon realise that Cipher is on course of world domination, with Dom's help, so they attempt to shut her down, whilst trying to save there long time leader in the process. It is very non-stop from the beginning to end, and there is enough twists and turns to keep you glued to the screen but it is quite predictable and some of the corny lines did make me cringe. Like most of the movies in this franchise, the cars are truly amazing and the action does push the boundaries but I personally found the scenes with Statham the most impressive. Anyway, it's definitely worth a watch, especially if you enjoyed the previous movies but I don't think that it was the best in this franchise. Enjoyable!

Round-Up:

This movie was directed by F. Gary Gray, 48, who also brought you Murder Was The Case starring Snoop Dogg, Friday, the unique video by TLC called Waterfalls, Set It Off starring Queen Latifah, The Negotiator, A Man Apart, The Italian Job remake, Be Cool, Law Abiding Citizen and the Straight Outta Compton movie. He's obviously a man who usually makes movies for the urban market but judging by the profit that this movie made, he certainly has crossed over successfully. With a lot of this film being filmed in Cuba, and various other locations, he brought a lot of authenticity to the movie, along with intensity by making Dom go rouge but my expectations were hoping for something a bit more original. After watching a moody Charlize Theron in Atomic Blonde, I was hoping to see another side to her in this film but she seemed to be just as moody, which wasn't totally her fault. This is the second time that Statham has surprised, like he did in Spy but he didn't get much screen time, which is a shame because he made the movie unique in a lot of ways. With this movie being the 12th biggest of all time, with the Fast and Furious 7 being the 6th of all time, this is definitely a franchise that has a huge following, and I personally don't think that this is the last time that we will see this crazy team, saving the world.

Budget: $250million.

Worldwide Gross: $1.23billion (WOW!).

Genre: Action, Crime, Thriller.

Cast: Vin Diesel, Jason Statham, Dwayne Johnson, Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, Ludacris, Charlize Theron, Kurt Russell, Luke Evans, Scott Eastwood and Nathalie Emmanuel. 6/10.