I am not a fan of the Fast and the Furious franchise. That was always going to be the first sentence of this review because I believe that any good film critic should state any possible bias they may have. I haven’t been to the theater for entries 3 thru 7, but through persisted prodding from friends, watched the ones I missed last year. I couldn’t find anything meaningful in them. The story was always predictable and everything else felt bland. I couldn’t see how the transformation from small-time street racing turned them into international undercover superhero gentleman lady thieves. I just never found a way to have fun and enjoy myself. However, I am capable of seeing merit where it is due, and the series has plenty to choose from. You could point to its impossible action sequences, its immersion into custom car culture, or its multi-ethnic cast of characters that embody the spirit of the American dream.

Skip to the end, right? Get to your topic! What about Fate of the Furious? Well, at long last, I can with out of doubt say that I very much enjoyed my time in the theater. All two hours and forty minutes of it. After some reflection, trying to get to the root as to what helped this turn around for me as a viewer, I found 3 possible explanations.

First, and possibly telling for repeat viewings, this is an experience built for the big screen. The stunts, the cars, the bass, the characters all beg to be seen on the big screen with an equally big sound system with as many K’s as you can get. Watching them at home is like riding the kiddie coaster at the traveling rodeo.

Second, I never realized how much I disliked Paul Walker in the role of Bryan. He was the one character that left a bad taste in my mouth, or lack thereof, like seasonless chicken stock. Just water and a chicken bone. He was so bland and his driving force in the film series, outside of the first film, was to be the whitest everyman with no real discernable skill or quality. Originally, his role as an undercover cop helped the audience infiltrate the life of street racers, but subsequent films would just make him a tool to move the story in and around government bodies. He was a tool, in every sense of the word. (Obviously though, rest in peace, Paul Walker.)

Finally, the film drops all of the outlaw, anti-hero, hunted by the government nonsense and tells a straightforward action movie story. Granted, to understand which characters know who and why, you will have had to see previous entries, which is a huge drag on the series, it still comes out very focused. The action sequences are fun, easy to follow, and celebrates all of its overpowered characters abilities and features. Dwayne is Herculean, Vin is Cunning, Ludacris is still the Brain, Nathalie is the Hacker, Jason the Infiltrator, Letty is Brash, and Tyrese is the Clown. It’s the perfect GI Joe/Transformers formula. It is literally a Saturday Morning Cartoon block on steroids.

What else can I say? None of the science or logic makes any sense and there are absolutely no surprises in the plot, but that’s not why you are there. You are there to see these guys jetset around the world in supercars and push the great modern American dream. Drive fast, blow it up, shoot it out, and love your family. Like The Rock on the bench, it lifts its own weight and then some.

~* 8/10 *~