Fast and Furious 7 (M)
Starring: Dwayne Johnson, Jason Statham, Paul Walker, Vin Diesel
YOU will believe a car can fly.
And get parachuted from a plane. And carry a tonne of weapons. And enough armour to sink the Bismarck. And fly through three buildings in mid-air at 100 miles per hour.
OK, maybe not that last one… but they do it anyway.
What is certain is that the Fast and Furious stunts have reached truly stratospheric heights – and flying metal is a key part of the appeal.
The look of pure joy on my 13-year-old’s son’s face as a raft of cars are about to exit the giant aircraft is indeed a sight to behold.
It’s big, it’s loud, it’s fast… and it’s oh so dumb.
All the corny lines are there: “Do me one favour… don’t miss.“ Yep, The Rock really said that.
Jason Statham is the snarling villain: he stretches early credibility by winning a fistfight with The Rock. In the real world, Dwayne would have turned the weedy Pom into a protein shake… and used his femurs as toothpicks.
Plot? Oh, if you must.
So, the F&F team’s gotta get the gizmo stolen by the bad guys, so the government can… well, use it pretty much like the bad guys would’ve, I guess… but for good, right?
Along the way, all the fast cars find an excuse to visit Dubai… and everywhere else.
Some of the cracks from losing star Paul Walker mid-shoot to an unrelated car accident do show – but, let’s be honest, it’s not exactly Shakespeare.
Will there be a Fast and Furious 8? Well, the record half a billion dollar opening tends to suggest – dead star or not – there most certainly will be.
– Jason Beck
