(PHOTO PROVIDED VIA GOOGLE)
SORRY...THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS. SOMETIMES I JUST CAN'T HELP IT.
STARRING:
Vin Diesel as Dom Toretto
Jason Statham as Deckard Shaw
Dwayne Johnson as Hobbs
Michelle Rodriguez as Letty
Tyrese Gibson as Roman
Ludacris as Tej Parker
Charlize Theron as Cipher
Kurt Russell as Mr. Nobody
Nathalie Emmanuel as Ramsey
Luke Evans as Owen Shaw
Scott Eastwood as Little Nobody
Helen Mirren as Magdalen Shaw
(TRAILER PROVIDED VIA YOUTUBE)
The Fast and the Furious franchise started back in the summer of 2001 as a street racing flick that followed undercover police officer Brian O'Conner (Played by the late Paul Walker) as he was part of an investigation to uncover the gang responsible for robbing of electronics trucks. This movie came out right after I graduated high school and it became life for my friends as I as we had been newer to the whole driving thing. If you were to ask me that this franchise would have went as far as eight installments with another two still coming, I probably would have called you crazy. And that was the opinion of a super fan of the movies.
But the thing is that this franchise has come such a long way since it's beginning. The franchise has evolved in a way that is unheard of if you ask me. It went from being a high octane street racing series and became a global journey of a group who see themselves as family and come together to save the world in the most bad ass of ways.
Dom Toretto has gone from being a hot head with a short temper who could out think law enforcement to a more calculating and cunning character who is a serious force to be reckoned with. He has always been my favorite character and I honestly hope to have a son one day so that I could name him Dom because of this character. I have just enjoyed watching the growth of the character and I still find myself looking forward to what happens to him next.
You can't have Dom without having Letty. With so many of the original cast gone from the frachise, Letty is the one that can never go away. Letty is Dom's rock, always has been. Their story never gets corny and only gets better.
The Roman and Tej relationship is fun and hilarious. They may continue to argue and go at each other, but it's out of love. They are very much like brothers, but I guess that's the point. They would defend eachother to the very end and have eachother's back.
The Hobbs and Deckard relationship is exciting. I'm happy they found a way to make them get along. I've been hearing about a Hobbs/Deckard Shaw spin-off movie and I really hope that we get it. These two characters teaming up and continuing in the Fast and Furious frachise would be amazing to watch. I actually pity the poor souls who end up pitted against these two.
Kurt Russell's Mr. Nobody is the ultimate covert ops as anyone can be. Super smart, classy as hell and he knows his shit. Little Nobody was great comic relief. It was fun watching an inexperienced and "green" character surrounded by so many vets. I hope they will use them both in the Hobbs/Deckard spin-off.
Cipher was a villian to truly dispise. This was pure evil with the brians and looks to completely push her will onto the world. She knew how to play Dom and had him in the palm of her hand. Too bad she was a little too cocky and didn't realize that Dom always gets himself out of a bind. She was a great villian. I see her being the focus of the next film if not the next two.
The late Paul Walker was also still there even though he wasn't. With mentions of Brian and Mia and then the ultimate tribute at the end of the film. Don't read the next few sentences if you don't want to know what happens. Dom names his son after Brian. There is now a Brian Toretto. There was no bigger sense of family in these films until that moment. It was again tasteful and heart warming.
(PHOTO PROVIDED VIA GOOGLE)
Fast cars, bad asses and terrorists make a great action flick. Add family and heart and you get this Fast and the Furious franchise. If you want to see why this movie recieved the biggest global opening in history, all you have to do is go see it. I will always have sort of a biased opinion of these films due to the way I have connected with them since day one back in 2001. But then again, I guess the entire world does too. I am not going to give the usual rating I would with other films. I think you all know exactly how I felt about it.
