The Plot

Last seen taking down Owen Shaw (Luke Evans) in spectacular fashion, Toretto (Vin Diesel) and his family are back. And as fate would have it, Shaw has a brother. Who is seeking revenge. And is Jason Statham. Need we say more?

The Good

The Fast and Furious franchise is an incredibly rare gem that only began to find its footing from its fourth instalment. With the first 3 focusing on racing mainly as it’s heart and soul, 4, 5 and 6 kept the cars but dialled down the racing in favour of action. So far we’ve had a bank heist in which a safe is dragged along the streets of Rio de Janeiro and a chase sequence along the worlds longest runway. But, you may ask, how can this be topped? Simple. Replace the traditional three act structure with a bigger, more action packed three set-piece structure.

Fast and Furious 7 includes a beginning, middle and end of pure adrenaline that will keep your eyes glued to the screen. With horror master James Wan (Insidious, Saw) taking the franchise to terrifying new depths. Each action sequence tops the last and just when you think it can’t get any bigger, it does. And then it does again.

Vin Diesel and Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson return of course, but the new additions of Kurt Russell and Jason Statham bring an already stellar cast list to dizzying heights. With Russell’s involvement in the next instalment recently confirmed, we can but hope that his scenes were just a tease for what’s to come. A very big tease too!

Of course, this film can’t be talked about without mentioning Paul Walker. From the very beginning Walker’s character has been the driving force behind all bar one film. With his unfortunate passing in 2013, this instalment was destined to be something to be both anticipated and feared. With details of Brian O’Conner’s storyline being kept under wraps and being well aware that to spoil this part of the film would be the worst crime, all we can say is, job well done. Walker’s legacy is respected in the best way possible and will not leave a dry eye in the screen. No matter how many times you see it.

The Bad

After an ending like this it’s almost sad to hear that the franchise will continue. The knowledge that Walker truly can’t come back in any big way is disheartening to say the least, however the promise of more action-packed stories from a franchise that has reached it’s peak is too tempting to say no entirely.

There are only two items to discuss in this section, both of which are the barely passable to be considered truly bad. The first and strongest point to make is that the action, while clearly choreographed brilliantly, is at times brought down by the use of a shaky camera. While it’s nothing as bad as the worst offenders (we’re looking at you Taken 3!) and in retrospect seems almost unavoidable at points, it does occasionally and infrequently, threaten to throw you off guard and make you lose your bearings ever so slightly.

The second point is really nitpicking and probably wouldn’t be noticed by too many but, as a Tarantino fan, I feel the need to point it out. If you have Kurt Russell appearing in a franchise in which one of the main selling points is fast cars and spectacular crashes, surely a Death Proof reference, even the tiniest one somewhere, is needed? Just me? But hey, we still have Stuntman Mike for at least one more film so perhaps if we keep our fingers crossed that much tighter…

The Ugly Truth

Fast and Furious 7 is without a shadow of a doubt, the best in the franchise. The action is turned up to twelve, along with the talent and emotion. With action sequences that try and succeed in topping one another, it demands to be seen on the biggest screen possible. And more than once!