CIMPLE – A Curious Introvert's Musings & Photos about Life and Enjoyment

In the seventh installment of the Fast & Furious franchise everything is elevated to another level.  If you are looking for a movie that has a little of everything, then Furious 7 is the movie for you.  It has unbelievable action scenes (cars dropping from airplanes and flying between skyscrapers); outrageous fighting scenes:  Hobbs (“The Rock”) vs. Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham), Dom (Vin Diesel) vs. Shaw and Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) vs. Kara (Ronda Rousey); fantastic exotic and classic cars ($3.4 million Lykan HyperSport, 1970 Dodge Charger, Plymouth Road Runner, Aston Martin DB9 and a Bugatti Veyron); two villains:  Shaw and Jakande (Djimon Hounsou); a questionable government agent by the name of Mr. Nobody (Kurt Russell); a beautiful hacker (Nathalie Emmanuel) and a computer surveillance program called God’s Eye; the coolest car crew and family:  Dom (Vin Diesel); Brian (Paul Walker); Mia (Jordana Brewster); Roman (Tyrese Gibson); Tej (Ludacris); and Letty (Michelle Rodriguez), laughter (“The Rock” one-liners, the running jokes between Roman and Tej); and tears (goodbye references throughout the film and the tribute to Paul Walker).

Furious 7 was directed by James Wan and the film had a fast-paced, glamorous, and globe-trotting feel a little unlike the other Fast & Furious movies.  Including two villains in the storyline and moving the action between Los Angeles, Tokyo, and Abu Dhabi left little time for some of the classic Fast & Furious street racing scenes, the car crew dynamics and Sunday dinners.  The casting of Jason Statham as the villain was perfect and his fight scenes with “The Rock” and Vin Diesel were outstanding, but I thought adding a second villain, Djimon Hounsou, took a little away from time that could have been spent on more car chases or if you are a WWE Wresting fan, a triple threat match between Vin Diesel/Jason Statham/Ronda Rousey with “The Rock” waiting on the sidelines to help Vin Diesel, if needed (sorry for digressing, but I still miss watching “The Rock” wrestle).  I love the Fast & Furious franchise and while Fast Five remains my favorite, I would now consider Furious 7 in a close race with the original, The Fast and the Furious, as my second favorite.

In addition to the many unbelievable car chases and fights in the movie, there were many of the wonderful little things that make the Fast & Furious franchise special included in this addition.  Some of those were Brian driving his son to daycare in a Minivan, the “The Rock” and the Hulk references, the soundtrack, Roman and Tej discussing women, Dom reminding everyone “I don’t have friends. I have family,” and the love between the characters.

Paul Walker died in November 2013 while the filming of the movie was on a break and the decision was made to finish the movie by using footage from earlier films and having his two brothers, Cody and Caleb, plus another actor finish filming the scenes involving Paul’s character, Brian.  At the beginning of the movie, the first time Paul Walker is on the screen is when he is driving the Minivan and you only see his eyes in the rearview mirror.  From that moment, I knew I would be crying by the end of the film.  I have seen many of Paul Walker’s movies since his death, but after watching this group together in seven movies and the many references in the movie to saying goodbye, there seemed to be a feeling of loss surrounding the characters throughout the movie (whether it was Letty’s memory, Brian feeling lost by being a soccer dad or Brian telling Mia he might not make it back home).  The tribute at the end of the movie was wonderful, but what made the tribute perfect was to watch Vin Diesel and Paul Walker have their last car ride together and to be thankful for movies that allow people,for a time, to escape reality and wish that real life could be like the movies and that anyone who lost someone suddenly would be able to have that last ride together, that last laugh and the chance to say goodbye.

Having lost track of how many times I have watched the Fast & Furious movies and knowing I will see this movie endless times (even if I cry each time), it would be impossible for me to be impartial about my review.  Everyone should go see this movie and then go home and have a Fast & Furious movie marathon.