Directed by:
James WanComposer:
Brian TylerCast:
Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Jason Statham, Michelle Rodriguez, Jordana Brewster, Tyrese Gibson, Ludacris, Dwayne Johnson, Kurt Russell, Tony Jaa, Djimon Hounsou (more)VOD (3)
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Vengeance hits home in Fast & Furious 7 as Vin Diesel, Paul Walker and Dwayne Johnson lead an all-star cast across the globe in their most gravity-defying and emotional adventure yet. Targeted by a cold-blooded black ops assassin with a score to settle (Jason Statham), their only hope is to get behind the wheel again and secure an ingenious prototype tracking device. Facing their greatest threat yet in places as far away as Abu Dhabi and as familiar as the Los Angeles streets they call home, the crew must come together once again as a team, and as a family, to protect their own. (Universal Pictures UK)
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Those magnificent men in their flying machines. The following review is packed with spoilers and is somewhat misleading, given that I have never once seen this film in a “normal” cinema (the first time in IMAX, where the film is bigger, louder and not very clear, and the second time in 4DX, which gives new meaning to the term “cinema of attractions” and thanks to which the film is clearer, as you orient yourself in the space not only by sound and abrupt cuts, but also based on your own movement). Furious 7 aroused in me a mixture of fascination and disgust at its masculine bombast. All of the women in the film boundlessly admire “their” perfect men, who represent an essential condition for their career growth (Elena and Hobbs), family happiness (Mia and Brian) or finding their own identity (Letty and Dom). The men make all of the decisions and advise the women on what they should do to achieve contentment. The women obey them and are willing to die for them. The female characters are either confused and indecisive (Letty), reconciled to the role of wife and mother (Mia), somewhat hysterical (Ramsey) or aggressively masculine (Kara). Beautiful female bodies are exhibited as objects to be admired, which is most apparent in the case of Ramsey, who in the climax is transformed into a “hot potato”, i.e. bait for the bad guys (in the interest of objectivity, however, it is necessary to add that her hacking skills are also necessary for the execution of the plan). ___ The film’s creators don’t subvert the basic division of gender roles, as they still make it quite clear that they know how to create a surreal universe and spend the whole time treading the line between cool action badassery for real men, in which close-ups of perfectly shaped female derrieres serve solely for the pleasure of the male eye, and a self-aware parody of genre conventions, in which a slow-motion shot of a sexy female hacker emerging from the waves is followed by commentary on male voyeurism and “womanising”. In comparison with the previous films in the franchise, there is more of everything: scenes in which the film reflects (at least in the dialogue) the stupidity of the crew’s plans; the application of the “logic” that if using force is not an option, then use even more force; the childish joy of destroying precious things; superhuman strength; the indestructibility and endurance of the characters (breaking a cast by flexing biceps will be the scene of the year); product placement (a bucket full Coronas on ice); stylistic excesses (the clash between Statham and Diesel is like a duel between Olympian gods); and the hackneyed nature of the archetypes that the film works with (the alpha male, the sexy hacker). Furious 7 thus puts you in the position of someone who doesn’t understand the exaggeration if you don’t ridicule the film’s silliness. ___ For understandable reasons, the film loses its sense of detached humour in most of the non-action scenes with Paul Walker. However, they are also thought-provoking in the context of masculine melodrama (see westerns and the films of Jean-Pierre Melville and John Woo), placing heterosexual male interpersonal bonds at least on the same level as the love of a woman. The narrative structure is particularly problematic, though not in an inspiring way. Statham wants to take down the gang around Dom from the start, yet the plot is built on the team’s efforts to track down and capture the main villain. Mr. Nobody’s isn’t of much help in the end, except to delay the final destruction of L.A. and give Kurt Russell the opportunity to shoot with both hands. The positive characters don’t even manage to catch Statham off guard, which is apparently what Mr. Nobody was supposed to help with. However, he locates them without the help of the God’s Eye and surprises them three times. The episodic dramaturgy of “action scene A leads to action scene B, action scene B leads to action scene C, action scene C leads to action scene D” is tediously monotonous and indicates screenwriting laziness rather than an attempt to give the narrative a certain rhythm. On the other hand, we don’t have to rack our brains over how B connects with D (because that’s immediately obvious) or whether C will be followed by a return to A (at one point, the film even plays around with its straightforwardness when, to the strains of ominous music during the handover of the God’s Eye, it insinuates that Mr. Nobody might be a traitor), and we can enjoy the rapid sequence of the offered attractions, which are tied together by the fact that they negate Brian’s warning at the beginning of the film – “cars don’t fly”. Furious 7 is a film that’s proud of the fact that cars fly in it all the time. 75%
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Wan intentionally walks along the brink of parody. And you realize this already in the first scene with Statham’s brutal entry. The Fast and Furious series has worked its way up from a car tuning variation on Point Break to a high-tech spy-related celebration of family values where there’s still a lot of driving, but also equal doses of shooting and brutal hand-to-hand fights. The storyline as a whole makes very little sense. Technically, Vin Diesel and his gang are baddies who almost killed Statham’s brother - and that makes it personal - and in his revenge, Statham is just following Diesel’s philosophy regarding family. The action scenes are on a higher level than in the preceding episode. Who ever thought that the airplane from episode six couldn’t be outdone was seriously wrong. All the three gigantic car wars (Azerbaijan, Abu Dhabi, L.A.) are even crazier still. The incredible tricks with the bus where Paul Walker and Tony Jaa have a one-to-one and Diesel drives downhill are comparable to Transformers in terms of opulence. Abu Dhabi offers the much-viewed jump by Lykan through the skyscrapers (terrorists are already taking notes) and L. A. is the location for the showdown to symbolize a kind of homecoming. And the entire dynamics of problem-solving is extraordinarily idiosyncratic. Someone comes up with a crazy idea and the others say... ok then. Kurt Russel finances it, does a promotion stunt for Belgian ale and turns the series into a regular imitation of old Bond movies. James Wan wanted to make the style more like the classic movies about revenge from the 70s, but I’m not so sure it worked. This part is certainly a lot darker than all the preceding ones. This was quite easy to build up to this with the killer Statham. The close-ups give conflicts greater depth, but the white-hot action moves the genre type somewhere completely different. The habit of breaking up fist fights is only kicked with the Statham vs. The Rock match, the other fights then began falling apart again, which was most disappointing in the Diesel vs. Statham finale. The final conflict of two family guys (a monkey wrench against pieces of sheet metal) still hasn’t managed to outdo the clash of the titans from part five. The farewell to Paul Walker is sad, but well-done with a message (of course) about family and a final glance at the roots of the series. Paul left when the going was good (he even trained up Tony Jaa!) because the series can’t get any crazier or more entertaining than it is right now. P.S.: Those who fault its logic and burble about it not making sense of course are right, but they haven’t understood one fundamental thing. From time to time, viewers like this sort of action porn and Diesel and his gang are always pleased to entertain.
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The nicest thing is that after the previous airplane games and intercity jumps, the seventh installment appears more believable most of the time. Not that cars with parachutes or crossing from one skyscraper to another are particularly realistic, but there is a certain spark of greater liveliness in them. Perhaps it's thanks to the 4D experience, which allowed me to personally experience all the falls and twists. Perhaps it is the merit of saying goodbye to Paul Walker, which works excellently in an emotional way. However, the most positive impressions are left by the domestic finale, which surpasses the already breathtaking passages from the Caucasus and the Emirates with its diverse involvement of all participants. The method of crossing, the Rock's idea for healing fractures, and above all, the showdown between Vin Diesel and Jason Statham are attractions pumped with adrenaline, brought to the level of a perfect experience. For the kind of movies whose mistakes you can only spot a few hours after your heart rate subsides, this group still has no competition.
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This routine action flick is big and noisy, but with a completely forgettable script and direction. The Emirates will cover part of the budget, so let’s throw in some skyscraper-climbing in Abu Dhabi, so as not to feel inferior next to the Burj Khalifa in M:I. Then a tragic event interrupts the filming and we have to invest in a digital Paul Walker, so we’ll finish up at home in LA to save a few bucks. The best character (played by The Rock) gets too little screen time and you’ve already seen the best action scenes in the trailer. The final farewell to Paul was nice.
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The Fast and the Furious franchiser seems completely exhausted and overdone. If if #5 was some kind of boosted restart with fresh and rough southern blood, and #6 was about pretty, but visually smoother and with even crazier stunts. This one, unfortunately is already about 80-90 percent similar to the previous one. So, essentially it doesn’t go anywhere, it’s just bigger, more expensive, and louder. The summary “it's a bit too much" fits perfectly. And I haven't even mentioned the scenes that are copied straight from the previous film, it's striking. Especially the fight between Jason Statham and The Rock (almost identical as to The Rock vs Vin Diesel) and the female combos? Gina Carano at least had feminine charm and sex appeal, unlike the bulldozer queen. It also has the same flows: a PG-rating, meaning no blood even though heads are being cut off, unintentionally funny and nonsensical scenes, etc. Despite all this, you end up liking the main "family" of heroes and root for them, and despite the many shortcomings, Fast and Furious 7 still has the best action scene of the year – the only truly stellar one – yes, the one in the mountains with the armed convoy. You'll be amazed at how such a complicated action set-piece can be filmed so clearly. The farewell to Paul Walker is truly elegant and the final action scene is annoyingly long, loud, and monotonous. Go see it out of obligation and for Walker, but judge it as a functional/non-functional film – leave sentiment at home.
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