Vin Diesel is a man with no sense of irony. Whilst the majority of his Fast and Furious co-stars spend the non-car chase scenes in this 7th(!) entry in the long-running street racing/ 80’s action throwback franchise making it very clear how silly the whole thing is, Diesel plays it straight. One gets the impression that from the way he hams his way through the film’s several excessive speeches about the importance of family that he considers Dominic Torretto to be his Hamlet or Stanley Kowalski: a performance for the ages.
Fast and Furious 7 is bad. A handful of fun chases and an enjoyable Kurt Russel performance cannot even come close to salvaging this bloated 2 hour 20 minute mess. Characters appear out of nowhere for no reason and then disappear mid-scene (Jason Statham’s extremely Jason Statham-y villain being the worst offender) and unfunny comic relief scenes go on way past their life spans (as does the endless, boring climax). Despite this, the series seems to have got a free pass from the critical bashing that greets Michael Bay’s filmography even as it makes all the same mistakes, down to the uncomfortably leery shots of all female characters.
On the few occasions that the film does work, it’s through harnessing sheer cheesiness for maximum effect. The first act ‘cars parachuting’ set piece is fun despite being spoiled in the trailers and The Rock’s silly fistfight with Statham recalls the action flicks of Schwarzenegger and Stallone’s heyday. The most effective scene by far however comes at the finale. Deceased cast member Paul Walker is given a sunset-lit, power ballad sound-tracked send off that movingly pays tribute to the series stalwart in the most appropriately OTT fashion. It’s a surprising emotional gut-punch that deserves a better movie.
Peter Brearley
Images: Universal