When Dom turns on his team, the others are left to find out what is going on and why he has teamed up with cyber terrorist Cipher....
Some film series keep going until eventually ideas run out. Or they do something to 'jump the shark.' The Fast & Furious hasn't done that yet, but it is getting very very close to it.
While the stunts and action are up to the standard of the previous films, well certainly since Fast & Furious 5, this latest one, also known as The Fate Of The Furious, has many problems with its story and its use of characters. Chris Morgan who has written most of the films, has with this film tried one to many things here and it doesn't work. In the trailer, you see how Deckard Shaw, the villain in the last film has to work with Hobbs to bring Dom and Cipher in. Now, we know from previous films that Deckard was responsible for the death of Han in Tokyo Drift, as revealed in FF6. And yet there is absolutely no reference at all to this in the film. Instead, they turn him into another member of the team and all is apparently forgiven. But there are others things with characters too. One cameo might be fun, but it too overlooks their previous film appearance, though a nod to how it ended is nice. And then there is Elena. While she had a prominent role in FF5, since then her potentially interesting character has been reduced to cameo appearances and here too she is reduced to a plot detail, leading to a rather contrived ending.
But there is more. How Cipher is revealed by Mr. Nobody is never really explained, or how they know Dom is working for her. Of course, it turns out that the events of this film are tied into the last two films, which might explain that aspect.
Behind the scenes issues too cause problems. There was a well publicised row between Dwayne Johnson and someone in the production, which some suspected was Vin Diesel. Apparently this was true. The row must have been pretty bad, as apart from a conversation on phone or radio, you never actually see both of them on screen together sharing a scene. I would imagine that this would cause some problems for the story and also the finished film.
So with some issues in front of the camera and behind the scenes going on, why did I leave the cinema smiling?
Simple, because Fast & Furious 8 is mindless fun.
You can't take these films seriously, like for example The Expendables films. But both these series have a sense of fun in them that many other films simply can't replicate. Too many blockbusters want to be taken seriously, but the Fast & Furious producers embrace that sense of fun. They know what the fans of the serious, certainly since the fifth one, want. Big action set pieces, a lot of humour often hanging of a plot that at times makes no sense! It's a formula that works, as each film has I believe topped the previous one at the box office, so why change the formula?
Of course having a good, charismatic cast certainly helps. Despite off screen problems, with the likes of Jason Statham, Dwayne Johnson, Vin Diesel, Charlize Theron, Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, Chris 'Ludacris' Bridges, Kurt Russell, Nathalie Emmanuel and Scott Eastwood are fun to watch here. Add in a couple of cameos, one possibly people are aware off the other that works despite previous events, it's certainly a well acted film.
New director F. Gary Gray doesn't really change anything here. I would imagine it is hard for a director of any long running film series to come in and truly stamp his mark on the series as the film has to have a similar tone to the previous ones. But Gray is a good director and does make the humour in the script come out with the casts performances and with Theron in menacing form as Cipher, gives her villain a harder edge at moments.
The stunt team as you would expect create some impressive set pieces, from drag race, to car chaos with driverless cars in New York, to a prison break, to the sub chase. It's similar to how Bond used to do it, to try and one up the previous film and this is where the film might, just might be on the verge of 'jumping the shark' with its set pieces. It's getting hard to see how they are going to keep topping each previous one.
Personally? I think they will have to head into space to do that!
From the way this one ends, it could be some changes are coming for the next one. If there are, it'll be interesting to see where they go from here, as I understand they plan on at least two more after this one.
I was never a fan of the series in truth until Fast & Furious 5 came along. While I'm not a die hard fan of the series, I cannot deny I do enjoy them for what they are, which is utterly spectacular if totally mindless fun.
Fast & Furious 8 or The Fate Of The Furious won't change the world, it won't win awards (except maybe for its stunts), but this film, like the previous three do what many blockbusters forget and that is remind audiences films can just be fun.
And sometimes, that is all you want from a film.
Rating - 3/5
No comments:
Post a Comment