Review: The Fate of the Furious

The Furious franchise has largely come to stand for one thing, loyalty to family. Throughout seven film now, Dom (Vin Diesel) and the gang have stuck together over any number of villains and the laws of physics. This is what makes The Fate of the Furious so frustrating, the film goes against its core mantra. For fans of the series, this may be one of the more disappointing entries.

The film picks up in Cuba as Dom and Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) are on their honeymoon. Dom finds out his cousin owes money and decides to settle things the only way Dom can, in a street race. "It's not what's under the hood, it's whose behind the wheel," he grunts as he gets behind the wheel of a car that looks like it hasn't been driven since we stopped trade with Cuba. The scene is the sort of pure ridiculousness that the series has transformed into. It is silly and dumb and kind of fun.

Dom soon is approached by Cipher (Charlize Theron), a super hacker straight out of Swordfish. She shows him something on her iPhone and soon Dom is forced to double-cross his team in order to help her secure an EMP and the God Key from the last film. This is where the film betrays what the Fast and Furious films have always been about. Dom would never put his "family" in this kind of situation and have them think he didn't care about them. He would signal Letty at some point. So while it is fun to figure out what made Dom turn, it never feels true to what these films have always been about. That gooey emotional core that preaches the honor of family is what makes these films endearing even when they are ridiculous.

In the midst of that storyline, there is a better film in here featuring Jason Statham's Deckard Shaw and Dwayne Johnson's Luke Hobbs. They team up in a sort of 48 Hours style match up and the results are fantastic. Statham is The Fate of the Furious's secret weapon. He delivers a much needed and terrific action set-piece in the third act. He also plays of Johnson extremely well. One hopes the next film or spin-off focuses on more of these two actors together.

The rest of the cast is given each a moment to get a strong laugh. Tyrese Gibson as Roman and Chris Brides as Tej continue to bring a steady amount of humor to these films. Director F. Gary Gray is a talented director and it shows in the banter among the team. However, he proves not to be as nimble an action director. Many of the big set-pieces here feel confusing and muddled in terms of the geography. A very silly chase through NYC is a mess.

In the end, The Fate of the Furious is a mixed bag. It has some of the more funny moments in the entire series. It also seems to betray the core values of the franchise. The film has some cleverly conceived action scenes but they lack a coherence, as does the plot. The series has hit peak performance and sadly this isn't it.

2.5/5