The plot of this fun, action-packed movie turns on how the heroes will survive the violent and unending vengeance that is rained upon them by the brother of a previously defeated villain. The only way to stop this new villain is to locate a scanning and recognition technology, called “God’s eye” and it’s programmer.
While this was my first “Furious” movie, the appeal of the Fast and Furious franchise is obvious. The movie is successful because it retains all that is good in action movies and eliminates all, or almost all, of the bad. In short, all the action is here — yet the movie’s humanity and sense of humor remain in tact.
The action and suspense keep your adrenalin rolling through almost the entire movie. Belief must be suspended, but the fun of watching cars fly through buildings, humans survive literal cliff-hangers, and the glamorous international parties that light up the sky are unbelievable. Movie goer, Ken Bryan, commented: “The movie was exhilarating from start to finish!”
Yet despite the packed antics, the movie retains a soul. The protagonists are all noble characters. Health and fitness are their obsessions, not drugs and alcohol.While there are two scenes where women are highly objectified as back ground objects, they are not (as a small consolation) objectified specifically by the male lead characters. Overall, the movie portrays respect for women and a father’s commitment to his family as noble values. Loyalty to friends and family is elevated. A lot of violence occurs, but none of it is sadistic. Despite all the glamorous backgrounds, the main characters remain loyal to their emotional roots in working class Los Angeles. I suspect that young men will watch this movie more than women, but virtues that any man, or a woman, should cultivate are implicitly presented here.
There are touching moments in the movie. None are surpassed, however, by those toward the end of the movie depicting the lead actor, Paul Walker. Paul Walker died in a high-speed automobile crash during the film’s making in 2013. These final scenes of him are intriguing and almost haunting.
There are some limitations to the movie. There are cliches, stilted dialog, and predictability in the film to be sure; but these aspects are small compared to the excitement and good feeling you walk away with.
Theme: Action/Adventure
Rating: PG-13
Run time: 2 hours and 17 minutes.
Main characters: Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Michelle Rodriquez, Dwayne Johnson, Ludacris, Jason Stathman
