Furious 7 (2015)

Despite the fact that there are a lot of movies to look forward to this year, this seventh(!) instalment to the Fast & Furious franchise was on the top of my list. I gave the previous one a perfect score and couldn’t wait to see what the next one would bring. Unfortunately the movie had to be postponed by a year after the unexpected death of one of its main stars, Paul Walker. It meant the movie had to be rewritten because he had not yet filmed everything yet. Has it hurt the film or is Furious 7 still running on all cylinders?

Fast & Furious 6 introduced, in a single shot, Jason Statham to the franchise and the question was what his role would be. It turns out that he’s the brother of the previous enemy, Shaw, and he only wants one thing: revenge. He’s a highly trained assassin who wants to kill Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) and his whole “family”. Such a dangerous enemy needs to be neutralised and of course the team have a plan to find and stop him. They travel the world to do so and of course use all sorts of cars to execute their plan.

The reason I’m such a big fan of this series is the fact that it offer lots of thrills through its action, but it has fun and humour as well (in this part thanks to Ludacris and Tyrese Gibson). This new instalment offers lots of it and gives answers to questions like: What would it be like if Jason Statham had to fight Dwayne Johnson or Vin Diesel? In my opinion it’s comparable to a boxing fan asking what it would be like if Tyson would fight Ali. There is a lot of enjoyment to be had not only from the fights, but also because the ways cars are used in the movie in ways you have not seen before. The end result is some original, spectacular moments. As Dominic, Brian and the rest of the crew have turned into superheroes the last couple of instalments it doesn’t matter that not everything is very realistic, it just adds to the enjoyment.

Still I watched the movie differently because you do think of what has happened to Paul Walker. During every dangerous moment in the movie you wonder whether his character will be written out which only adds to the suspense. The way it says goodby to Walker is done well and is moving, without it feeling unnatural. Even though this seventh movie doesn’t reach the exact same high as the previous one, it is a must see for the fans of the series as there is a lot of enjoyment to be had.