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April 14, 2017

F&F 7: Furious 7 (2015) --- "An Old Enemy's Big Brother Makes 7 Friends Furious."

Copyright
Plot Summary
Dominic and his crew thought they'd left the criminal mercenary life behind. They'd defeated international terrorist Owen Shaw and went their separate ways. But now, Shaw's brother, Deckard Shaw, is out killing the crew one by one for revenge. Worse, a Somalian terrorist called Jakarde and a shady government official called "Mr. Nobody" are both competing to steal a computer terrorism program called "God's Eye," that can turn any technological device into a weapon. Torretto must reconvene with his team to stop Shaw and retrieve the God's Eye program while caught in a power struggle between the terrorist and the United States government.(1)






Review
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Hello, Movie Buffs! 
     The most interesting part about this franchise was that it did not seem like it was going anywhere since The Fast and the Furious (2001), especially since the first two sequels seemed to follow different stories and characters. When the fourth installment, Fast & Furious (2009), came out and they got most of the cast back together, it was entertaining and amusing but I did not believe that it would be going anywhere. However, it was not until Fast Five (2011) came out that I was really started to fall in love with the series; it felt like we were finally getting a worthy story for an amazing series. I enjoyed the first two sequels Justin Lin created, Tokyo Drift (2006) and Fast & Furious (2009), but I was not overly impressed to the extent that I would be the first in-line to see or buy. Nevertheless, when Fast Five (2011) came out he decided to have fun with the overblown action scenes and audiences embraced it completely. One of my favorite team has been reunited twice so far, being chased by tanks, plans, and pulling off Mission Impossible-worthy tasks. I was very excited for Furious 7 (2015) and was not aware that it had changed directors until after seeing the movie.
     James Wan (The Conjuring, Saw) has taken over the seventh film in The Fast and the Furious franchise replacing Justin Lin who has been sitting in the director's chair since the third installment, Tokyo Drift. Wan followed the similar formula that helped to elevate the first installment and has been used extensively, more so, in the last two films, Fast Five and Furious 6 (2013). In the fifth and sixth installments Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel), Brian O’Conner (Paul Walker), Tej (Ludacirs), and Roman (Tyrese Gibson) had finally found financial stability and cleaned their names to return home. Agent Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) helped reinvigorate the franchise as an unexpected friend, Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) was brought back from the ‘dead’, and Brian and Mia (Jordan Brewster)  are enjoying their newfound family life. By the end of Furious 6 the franchise was effectively caught up with the events taking place between 2 Fast 2 Furious (2003) and Tokyo Drift and now is finally in the present. And as we discovered at the end of Furious 6, Owen Shaw’s (Luke Evans) “bigger and badder” older brother Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham) has come to avenge him. ***SMALL SPOILER*** The seemingly peaceful lives of the team have been interrupted as they are now being hunted down by a dangerous British criminal, who appears to always be ten steps ahead. Luckily, Dom and his crew are offered the chance turn the tables on Deckard, going from being the hunted to being the hunters when a secret government official known as Mr. Nobody (Kurt Russell) offers them a deal. If they can rescue a high-skilled hacker called Ramsey (Nathalie Emmanuel), who has developed a computer program called God’s Eye, from a Somalia mercenary then Mr. Nobody will let Dom and his team use God’s Eye to find Deckard.
     Once again, the actors were amazing and casting Jason Statham as the main villain has only elevated the film, the fight scenes between him and Dom and then him and Hobbs were greatly entertaining. When you combine great actors and characters with fighting choreography that has been filmed correctly then you make for some highly developed action scenes. The action scenes are not overblown or over exaggerated and that is what makes this installment so much more entertaining. Especially when you learn that Over-the-top action scenes are what made this franchise in the first place and Furious 7 continues to follow along the same lines. By taking advantage of Wan's knowledgeable work behind the camera as well as his brilliant use of different camera angles, Furious 7 has evolved into a most entertaining movie.

     Overall, Furious 7 is a seamless blend of fun action scenes with the dramatic elements of the characters, both individually and as a team. Although, the film takes elements from Mission Impossible, the action, and Ocean’s Eleven, the heist. The ending for this movie is emotional because it surrounds the untimely death of beloved actor Paul Walker. The last five minutes are an emotionally engaging tribute and I believe that the production team has done him justice, both as an actor and as his character.



“I used to say I live my life a quarter mile at a time and I think that's why we were brothers - because you did too. No matter where you are, whether it's a quarter mile away or half way across the world, you'll always be with me. And you'll always be my brother.”
- Dominic Toretto

Final Vote
Worth Seeing:  5 of 5 stars
Worth Buying:  5 of 5 stars

I hope you liked this post, subscribe to my blog via email HERE, send in your comments, and watch Furious 7 (2015).


Movies Similar 
F&F 1: Fast and the Furious (2001)
F&F 2: 2 Fast 2 Furious (2003)
F&F 3: Tokyo Drift (2006)
F&F 4: Fast & the Furious (2009)
F&F 5: Fast Five (2011)
F&F 6: Fast & Furious 6 (2013)
F&F 8: The Fate of the Furious (2017)
Gone in 60 Seconds (2000)
Italian Job (2003)
Mission Impossible (1996)
Mission Impossible 2 (2000)
Mission Impossible 3 (2006)
Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol (2011)
Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation (2016)
Need for Speed (2014)
Ocean's Eleven (2001)
Ocean's Twelve (2004)
Ocean's Thirteen (2007)
xXx (2002)
xXx: State of the Union (2005)
xXx: Return of Xander Cage (2017)


Cast & Crew

Directed by: James Wan

 

Writing Credits:

   (Written by) Chris Morgan
   (Characters by) Gary Scott Thompson.

 

Produced by 

   Vin Diesel                ---     producer
   Alexander Dostal    ---     line producer: Russia
   Amanda Lewis        ---     executive producer
   Justin Lin                ---     executive producer
   Chris Morgan          ---     executive producer
   Neal H. Moritz        ---     producer
   Clayton Townsend ---     producer
   Samantha Vincent ---     executive producer

 

Cast:

Paul Walker --- Brian O'Conner
Vin Diesel --- Dominic Toretto
Jason Statham --- Deckard Shaw
Jordana Brewster --- Mia Toretto
Tyrese Gibson --- Roman
Ludacris --- Tej
Dwayne Johnson --- Hobbs
Lucas Black --- Sean Boswell
Kurt Russell --- Mr. Nobody
Elsa Pataky --- Elena
John Brotherton --- Sheppard
Tony Jaa --- Kiet
Djimon Hounsou --- Jakande
Noel Gugliemi --- Hector
Ali Fazal --- Safar
Ronda Rousey --- Kara

Luke Evans --- Owen Shaw


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