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Thursday, April 2, 2015

Furious 7

Rated PG-13 / 2 hr 17 min / Action - Crime - Thriller

What is it about?

Vin Diesel reprises his role as Dominic Toretto for the sixth time. Jason Statham plays Deckard Shaw who is the brother of Owen Shaw. Owen was the head of a group of mercenaries and had been seriously injured and burned in Fast and Furious 6. Deckard is a trained British assassin that had been forcefully retired. He had been in hiding for several years, but chose to reveal himself to get revenge for his brother. A government agent with no name meets with Dominic to make him an offer. If he helps the agent get something then the agent will lend a hand towards tracking down Deckard Shaw.

You will like it if...

You liked the last three Fast and Furious movies. The blend of action, fast cars, women walking in front of the camera with bikinis, and the same cast of characters. The acting in this version is about the same, but they either gave minor or almost non-existent roles to the weaker actors in the series. Jason Statham plays the best bad guy of the series, and it's a long overdue addition. Luke Evans was a major upgrade in the sixth Furious flick, and Statham provides another step up from that. They also beefed up just about everything from stunts to fight scenes. The stunts are worth going to see the movie for on their own. The additions of Ronda Rousey, Tony Jaa and Statham make the fight scenes memorable, but in spots they make the good guys look inept. I had a hard time believing that the good guys could really win any of those fights. They also used the technique of speeding up and using jump cuts to film the fight scenes which I have always loathed. You can't tell what is going on in half of those fight scenes and you miss some of the amazing acrobatics of Tony Jaa because of this. Tony is way too fast for the camera when they are speeding up the action like this. Now we get to the biggest problem with the movie, the script. The plot is overly simplistic. Just as the story had begun to get interesting in Fast 5 and Fast and Furious 6, they simplify it in Furious 7 in favor of upping the ante in action and stunts. The dialogue is mostly rehashed from or perhaps a tribute to the previous six films. While not perfect, fans should enjoy it and find that this is a fitting end to the series.

Next Week

Open to suggestions - Danny Collins, Ex Machina, or maybe something else

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