Fast & Furious 7
RELIANCE HOME VIDEO, Rs 599
Cast: Vin Diesel, Dwayne Johnson, Paul Walker, Michelle Rodriguez, Jordana Brewster, Tyrese Gibson, Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, Elsa Pataky, Lucas Black
Director: James Wan
The seventh film in the Fast & Furious series has all the ingredients of its predecessor that’s kept this series of films alive. Its two-hour runtime gives full entertainment, from raging engines and smoking tyres, to lots of skin show, loud music, energetic action sequences and unbelievable stunts, while edging in some tender moments for good measure. It is also a fitting final tribute to actor Paul Walker who died in an accident before the film’s completion.
Fast & Furious films have never been high on realism, but Furious 7 pushes the limits of believability well into the unbelievable. The most outstanding moments are those involving the cars, particularly brilliant is the scene of each member exiting an airplane in their cars and parachuting onto a remote highway in the mountains in pursuit of their target. The other crazy scene is the mighty escape from a Dubai skyscraper, edge of the seat fun, but computer animated.
Coming to the plot, Owen (Luke Evans) is in hospital after the events of the last film. His brother Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham) seeks revenge on Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) and the rest of the crew: Brian (the late Paul Walker), Letty (Michelle Rodriguez), Roman (Tyrese Gibson) and Tej (Ludacris). The hunt for Shaw is a “fight to end all fights” kind of venture. It leads the team from the Caucasus Mountains to Abu Dhabi and finally back to Los Angeles. Along the way, they save young computer hacker Ramsey (Nathalie Emmanuel), who possesses the tech they need to track Shaw down.
Vin Diesel and Paul Walker again provide low-key bromance material, but the supporting cast also shines in their own way. We don’t see much of strongman Dwayne Johnson who plays DSS agent Luke Hobbs until the end of the film where he makes a grand finale.
The film has a decent soundtrack packed with EDM, hip-hop and a bit of Latin stuff thrown in. Highlights include Ride Out by Kid Ink, Tyga, Wale, YG, Rich Homie Quan and Go Hard Or Go Home by Wiz Khalifa and Iggy Azalea. There’s also the Wiz Khalifa tribute to the late Paul Walker on See You Again featuring Charlie Puth. Looking for some EDM and DJ Snake and Lil Jon come up with Turn Down For What, while DJ Snake once again gets behind the console for a pumpy Get Low with Dillion Francis, while David Guetta spins a heady Blast Off.
If you’ve followed the series you wouldn’t want to miss this. The DVD includes the Bonus Feature ‘Back to the Starting Line’.
Verus Ferreira is a music journalist for over three decades. He is the author of The Great Music Quiz Book and The Great Rock Music Quiz Book and the founder of Musicunplugged.in