Fast & Furious 7 (2015)

The Toretto gang returns in the 7th installment of the Fast & Furious franchise. This time, their high-paced lifestyles are used to their advantage as they pursue an enemy that is determined to get revenge for his dead brother.

This movie was anticipated by many fans of the series, mostly due to their growing curiosity about the fate of one of the main characters, Brian O’Conner. Due to the sudden passing of actor Paul Walker in November 2013, long time viewers couldn’t imagine how the writers would continue his character’s story without him to preform it.

However, before Walker’s untimely death, he was able to be a part of scenes in the beginning of the movie and later on, his brothers would participate in completing the film by acting as Brain O’Conner with CGI (computer generated imagery)

So how was the movie in general? 

Overall, it was as expected: A fun action packed ride from beginning to end. Although, I do have some nitpicks.

The action scenes were well-paced but the camera movement threw me off a bit. This odd movement would occur when one person would throw down their foe to the ground. The camera would spin as if we are moving with the one being thrown down.

When this happens the first time, I liked the sudden change of motion. Although, this happens again later on, but a little too often. I remember seeing another fight scene where they showed the spin camera about three times consecutively. That took a real toll on my brain and eyes, as both received a mild painful ache from the turns.

The cameras also enjoyed showing off woman’s attractive features. There were many women showing off their bodies in tight clothing and small bikinis that it rather bothered me. Not only did it seem to objectify women, but also there was not one shirtless man in the film to make up for it. I would be delighted to see some man candy!

Then again, the male demographic mostly supports this franchise, so I did not find the constant viewing of the women to be surprising. I just hoped there was also some six pack abs I could stare at for a while.

The characters were funny; they shot some good jokes here and there that brought a laugh. I enjoyed the comedic talk that sparred between all of them, and yet I do not think that they are relatable. 

Granted, I have not watched all the Fast & Furious movies, so I may be missing some valuable back story from the characters. Thus, I will not be too hard on them.

Nonetheless, I do have one complaint that I think I am entitled to have even if I didn’t see all the movies. The progression of Letty Ortiz (Michelle Rodriquez)

I learned her character went through a frightening accident in a previous sequel that caused her to lose her memory. Though she reunited with her husband Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) afterwards, in this movie, she still struggles with the pain of losing her memory, meaning losing all the her precious moments like her marriage to Toretto. Early in the film, this pain overbears her and she declares that she must leave him again to find herself. But about a couple scenes later, she returns…

The problem with this is that I would have rather her return a little later in the movie, or at least pan to her journey of gaining back her memory. Then we are able to see Ortiz slowly but surely construct her life again. Instead, she is pushed into going on another adventure with the others when she needed to take a break from that.

In addition, nearing the end of the movie, Ortiz regains a major part of her memory back, but there is no real build up to it. Sure, we get her trying to piece together her past but that was for only about two short scenes. Preferably, I would have liked more growth.

Aside from that, I had no issues with the movie. Again, the action was exciting to witness and I give a special mention to a certain ‘Car Parachute’ scene that had the whole theater dying of laughter. That is definitely my favorite scenes in the entire movie.

Overall, the film had a lot of ups and a few downs, but how did they deal with Brian O’Conner?

In the end, it seems clear that he will not join in more action packed adventures, but not because his character is killed off. The writers actually use his current standing as a husband and father as an excuse to leave him out of the future sequel and that is not bad to me. It is a sweet ending for the character and I believe it was presented well. There is also a small tribute to the Paul Walker at the end of the film. It was a heartwarming homage to a beloved man.

I would recommend this movie if you are eager to see a lot of action that will make your heart race with exhilaration. However, if you are a big fan of the series, I have no need to recommend it since I know you will no doubt watch it without indecision.