Fate of the Furious - quick thoughts (1 Viewer)

[Patrick Sun]

The 8th installment of the Fast and Furious franchise, Fate of the Furious, pretty much delivers on the checklist of most of the Fast/Furious films: fast cars, family dynamics, teammate insults, intense rival animosity, hot car scenery, and ridiculous physics-defying action sequences.

Plot: Dom goes rogue, and the rest of the team is called in to deal with his turn to the dark side, plus some other characters from previous films in the franchise turn up to spice things up.

I was mostly entertained. Saw it at a Dolby Cinema presentation, so it was big, loud and proud.

I give it 2.75 stars, or a grade of B-. .

 

[Robert Crawford]

For me, I think I'm finally getting bored with these films. The action was always outrageous, but this film really jumped the shark in that regard. My film grade is C+.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I've enjoyed each Fast & Furious movie, from Fast Five onwards, more than the last. This one is the first time in a while I didn't like it more than the previous one, but I think Fate Of The Furious is still one of the better entries in the series. The first two films are not great movies, the third film is okay but trivial, the fourth film is a moderate improvement, and then from five onwards I just find them to be super fun. This kept the fun, but I felt that F. Gary Gray's direction wasn't as sharp as Justin Lin's (who directed 3-6), and could have been trimmed every so slightly for length.

 

[steve jaros]

For me, this was the best one since Fast Five six years ago. Sure, it was ridiculously over the top, but they pulled it off with aplomb, and I was riveted by the Big Action start to finish.

And the franchise stewards are still smart enough to realize that the (astonishing, really) 16 years worth of chemistry that has built up among some of these characters is worth something, and they leverage that effectively. Like Harry Potter, it's almost like we've grown up, or out, with them.

 

[Robert Crawford]

For me, this was the best one since Fast Five six years ago. Sure, it was ridiculously over the top, but they pulled it off with aplomb, and I was riveted by the Big Action start to finish.

And the franchise stewards are still smart enough to realize that the (astonishing, really) 16 years worth of chemistry that has built up among some of these characters is worth something, and they leverage that effectively. Like Harry Potter, it's almost like we've grown up, or out, with them.

Wow! I guess we just disagree here. I just didn't feel this film like I've done with the prior films except for #3. Perhaps, not having Paul Walker at all in the film just kind of left me empty about it. I don't know, maybe, I just wasn't in a great mood to watch any film.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

And the franchise stewards are still smart enough to realize that the (astonishing, really) 16 years worth of chemistry that has built up among some of these characters is worth something, and they leverage that effectively.

I agree completely! That's why I come to these movies, because this cast is fun to watch together. I don't have any emotional investment in car races or any of the other plot stuff, I actually have no interest in cars at all. I saw all of the movies in order, but not when they were originally released - it was only with Fast Five taking the franchise to something beyond cars that I was like "This cast looks fun, let me check this out". So I watched them all from the start and found that I liked all of the films from Five onwards.

One thing that I think is maybe missing a little in this newest film is just a result of the plotting - the team is split up, and the appeal of these films is seeing the team together, so it feels a little weird to have them at odds for so much of the film's running time.

 

[Robert Crawford]

An interesting article. I guess I'm in the minority. Without a doubt, I'll be buying the 4K/UHD disc with Dolby Atmos audio. Perhaps, in time, it will grow on me.

http://money.cnn.com/2017/04/14/media/fate-of-the-furious-fast-and-furious-franchise/index.html

 

[steve jaros]

I agree completely! That's why I come to these movies, because this cast is fun to watch together. I don't have any emotional investment in car races or any of the other plot stuff, I actually have no interest in cars at all. I saw all of the movies in order, but not when they were originally released - it was only with Fast Five taking the franchise to something beyond cars that I was like "This cast looks fun, let me check this out". So I watched them all from the start and found that I liked all of the films from Five onwards.

FWIW, i have seen them all in the theater during their initial run, even Tokyo Drift. Not for any deep-fan reason, it has just turned out that way, lol.

 

[Tino]

‘Fate Of The Furious’ Cruising To A $102M+ Opening

The box office gas needle for Universal’s The Fate of the Furious is slightly above what we saw last night, with $45.8M in the tank from Friday, on its way to a $102.1M opening at 4,310 theaters, the widest pre-summer release ever.

http://deadline.com/2017/04/the-fat...opening-vin-diesel-dwayne-johnson-1202069983/

 

[TJPC]

I have not seen a F & F film since the first or second instalment. For some reason the trailer for this one intrigues me. Can I just walk of the street and see this, or is it necessary for me to see the rest first?

 

[DavidMiller]

I thought it was crazy over the top fun. They played a nice tribute at the end. Overall I thought it had the "fun" factor that we have been missing. I enjoyed it a lot for it was raw entertainment!!

 

[Joe Wong]

I loved the over-the-top action in F&F 5-7 (Dom's perfectly timed freeway leap to catch Letty in mid-air was the high point!) but this one was a notch or two below those. It's tough to outdo previous crazy stunts!!

Yes, we're supposed to suspend disbelief (sports cars leaping from skyscraper to skyscraper!) but the WTH for me is...

Statham's now a friend of the family!!!

Yes, they explain "why", but still...what's next...every villain eventually joins the family?

 

[Keith Cobby]

These films had bypassed me completely until I saw an interesting trailer whilst browsing televisions in a store. It was for F&F 7 so I read some reviews and bought 5-7. Really high energy and entertaining. Going to 8 tomorrow.

 

[Malcolm R]

Biggest worldwide opening weekend: $532M+

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I have not seen a F & F film since the first or second instalment. For some reason the trailer for this one intrigues me. Can I just walk of the street and see this, or is it necessary for me to see the rest first?

I think it works, either way. There are callbacks to previous films, and some of the character relationships are impacted by things that have happened prior to the start of the movie, but it also works as a escapist fun without any extra background. With each one of these new movies, they're trying to retain their old audience and expand to a new one, so it works on both of those levels.

That said, if the trailer for this one looked fun, the F&F movies started going down this road around the fifth movie. The first four are more focused on street racing and street gangs, the fifth film is where it starts turning into a crazy international spy caper.

 

[TJPC]

Thanks!

 

[Doug Wallen]

My wife and I viewed this one Friday afternoon. She likes all the male co-stars and the totally over the top action set pieces. For fun, escapist fare this is a great movie. The action never lets up and the the drama hits all the right notes. Couldn't have spent time any better. A great way to kick off the weekend. Seemed a little to convenient with the new additions to the FF family, I mean no dissension at all. Guess he needed to be in a new franchise .

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Seeing The Rock and Jason Statham constantly arguing was definitely a highlight!

Spoiler

Statham with the baby on the plane was a masterpiece of comedic action!

 

[Keith Cobby]

Saw this today (IMAX) and whilst it was a reasonably entertaining action film it was very derivative and formulaic (nuclear codes anyone!). It wasn't nearly as good as 6 or 7 and lacked the panache of the earlier films. I think the series reached its natural end with 7 and the death of Paul Walker.

 

[skylark68]

Need to see this one still. I've seen all of them in the theaters, the first one I saw on one of my first dates with my now wife.

I actually wish that they'd return to the simplicity of the first one as it was (sort of) realistic. I don't see that happening though, they've built up too big of a fan base since No. 5.

The franchise is so huge now though they could probably do a spin off and just focus on Dom's character from back in the day. Vin Diesel hasn't aged much over the years so they could probably pull it off.

They are all guilty pleasures, but the only one I cringe while watching is the 2nd one - "I'm HONNGRY!!!" (my wife and I still laugh at that line). I actually thought Tokyo Drift was an interesting and well thought out film which is typically the one most people pan.