Film review: Fast and Furious 7 (12A)

I’ve got a lot of love for the Fast and Furious series.

It almost feels like I’ve grown up with Dom Toretto, Brian O’Connor and the crew, with the first film in the collection released way back when I was at secondary school.

The series belongs in the ‘acceptably crazy’ bracket. A lot of what you’ll see in the previous films – and even more so in Fast 7 – just isn’t believable. But, more often than not, it’s simply great fun to watch.

As most of you will already know, things very much changed during filming, however, with Paul Walker tragically killed mid-way through production.

So the big question ahead of this James Wan-directed offering was what exactly they’d do with Walker’s character. As somebody that was a little choked by his passing, I’m pleased to tell you that Furious 7 serves as a fitting finale for a much-loved character and actor.

There’s almost too much going on here to squeeze into one concise review, but I’ll give it my best shot.

Fast 7 follows on pretty much directly from the events of the previous film, with Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham – The Expendables) taking over the mantle of chief villain.

He’s angry at what happened to his brother Owen in Fast 6 and holds Dom (Vin Diesel – Pitch Black) and his crew responsible.

That means Brian (Walker), Roman (Tyrese Gibson – Transformers), Tej (Ludacris), Letty (Michelle Rodriguez – Avatar) and Mia (Jordanna Brewster – The Faculty) are all in his crosshairs.

He’s also got beef with Hobbs (Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson), which leads to an awesome fight scene at the very start of the movie (look out for a Rock Bottom).

Deckard is a formidable foe, so Dom requires the help of the shadow-like special agent Mr Nobody (Kurt Russell – Escape from LA) to track him down.

In return, the team are sent to find kidnapped ace hacker Ramsey (Nathalie Emmanuel – Game of Thrones). She has created a device known as God’s Eye, which can locate anyone, anywhere, at any time.

The mission sees Dom and co skydive their cars out of a plane into Azerbaijan and hop from skyscraper to skyscraper (in a hypercar) in Abu Dhabi. Simply put, there’s stunt after stunt and action sequence after action sequence – and I loved it.

Look out for cameos from MMA star Ronda Rousey, Sean Boswell (Tokyo Drift’s Lucas Black) and Djimon Hounsou (Blood Diamond) too. The cast is simply huge, with Statham, Russell and Emmanuel all excellent additions to an already strong line-up.

If you’re after any negatives, Furious 7 does come in a little long at 140 minutes. It’s also not quite as good as Fast 5.

But if you like fast cars and non-stop action where you can leave your brain at the door, this delivers on the highest end of the scale.

It’d be wrong not to end on Walker. It’s clear that his character arc had to be altered somewhat – and you will notice that he’s not as prominent as usual towards the climax.

But the way the film sends him off at the very end is genuinely touching and really worked for me.

He’ll be best remembered for his work in this series of films – and Furious 7 is very much ‘for Paul’.

Voice Verdict: 8.5/10
+ A fine tribute to Paul Walker
+ Insane stunts
+ Very strong cast
– A little long

Showtimes at West End Cinema, Boston (Friday, April 10 to Thursday, April 16)
Box office: 01205 363634
Website: www.westendcinema.co.uk/SavoyBoston

EVENT CINEMA/LIVE EVENTS

VINCENT VAN GOGH – A NEW WAY OF SEEING
6.30pm (Tues)

THE HARD PROBLEM
7pm (Thurs)

FILMS SHOWING

**JOHN WICK (15)
2pm (Wed), 4.20pm (daily), 6.30pm (daily), 8.45pm (daily)

THE WATER DIVINER (15)
8.45pm (daily)

THE DUFF (12A)
2pm (Fri/Sat/Sun/Mon/Wed), 6.30pm (daily)

FAST & FURIOUS 7 (12A)
11am (Fri/Sat/Sun/Mon), 2pm (Fri/Sat/Sun/Mon/Wed), 5.10pm (daily), 8.20pm (daily)

GET HARD (15)
2pm (Wed), 8.40pm (daily)

CINDERELLA (U)
10am (Fri/Sat/Sun/Mon), 12.15pm (Fri/Sat/Sun/Mon), 2.45pm (Fri/Sat/Sun/Mon/Wed), 4.15pm (Thurs), 5.45pm (not Thurs), 6.20pm (Thurs), 8.30pm (not Thurs)

SPONGEBOB: A SPONGE OUT OF WATER 3D (U)
Noon (Fri/Sun/Mon), 4.20pm (daily)

SPONGEBOB: A SPONGE OUT OF WATER 2D (U)
2.15pm (Fri/Sat/Sun/Mon)

HOME 3D (U)
10am (Fri/Sat/Sun/Mon), 2.10pm (Fri/Sat/Sun/Mon), 6.30pm (not Tues/Thurs)

HOME 2D (U)
Noon (Fri/Sat/Sun/Mon), 4.20pm (daily)

BIG HERO 6 2D (PG)
10am (Fri/Sat/Sun/Mon)

KIDS’ CLUB
Fri to Sun 10.30am – Annie (PG)

SILVER SCREEN
Wed 11.30am – Get Hard (15)

**denotes free list suspended

Showtimes at Spalding’s South Holland Centre (Friday, April 10 to Thursday, April 16)
Box office: 01775 764777
Website: www.southhollandcentre.co.uk

SHAUN THE SHEEP MOVIE (U)
11am (Sat), 6pm (Fri)