Furious 7 (7 Fast 7 Furious) Part 1 of 2

Furious 7 (7 Fast 7 Furious) Part 1 of 2

While certainly not the most polished film in the long-running franchise, Furious 7 is a very fun action film that puts Bay's recent movies to shame. Bay could only wish to be like director James Wan. The movie has also has a few somber moments and we all know why too. They had to be in here due to the death of one of the main stars. Again, F7 is a nice movie with some funny moments from most of the cast. The action is very good. I actually enjoyed this movies a lot, but not as much as the last two movies in the series.

The stunts are way over the top, but is a fun way. Like the last two movies, this one feels like a heist/action story with a bit of spy drama added into it a s well. I don't think the franchise would have survived using the first movie's model of storytelling.

Basically, you have two main plots. Jason Statham's character is seeking revenge against the Furious crew, hunting them down. So, you get a bit of a revenge story going on as a subplot. However, a hidden government group recruits

Another storyline comprises of a warlord of sorts trying to get their hands on a super-spy-seeking program. Djimon Hounsou is a main bad guy of this portion of the story. More or less, he's the bad guy in this movie. He is pretty much playing the same character as the one he played in the Guardians of the Galaxy.

The majority of the best action scenes come from first two acts of the movie. There is an impressive chase/rescue scene involving cars being parachuted out of a plane and then the action unfolds on a road on a mountaintop. This was a nice mixture of CGI and real stunt work. I love this entire sequence from start to finish.

Jason Statham is the random factor in two of the acts of this movie. And, we get to see him kick a lot of ass and drive cars really fast. that's pretty much what Statham does in his movies. Statham is one of the better things about this movie. He's a one-man army that goes around kicking the shit out of people and things. I felt he should have been the main bad guy, but he comes across as the secondary one for 2/3 of the movie. (Plus, that intro to his character was a nice reveal too.)

Djimon Hounsou on the other hand isn't that compelling as the villain. He's okay, but it is just Djimon Hounsou as he is in all his movie. He felt more like a Marvel Comics Movie villain.

Notes

-Dwayne Johnson is barely in the movie, and that's one of the shortcomings. Johnson is a great character and he had such a amazing fight with JS. I know he was busy with other movies, but I could have used more of The Rock.

-Jason Statham has a great introduction: There is a great opening in a hospital.

-Lucas Black is barely in it: I wanted to see him as one of the crew, but it is more or less just a cameo and a scene that progresses the plot. Then he just disappears. I think Black could be a good replacement for Walker in future movies. Also, he looks completely different and much older.

-Kurt Russell is freaking great as the government man: Russell is so fun to watch as the man in charge. I love his interactions with Vin and his crew. Kurt has this constant smirk on his face the entire showing that he really into this movie. I view Kurt as the old school action guy. He makes this movie so much better.

-Michelle Rodriguez is a better actor today: She has more to do than the earlier movies. She's made some improvements in her acting and she's not just a tomboy in a tank-top.

-Nathalie Emmanuel is hot: She's from Game of Thrones. She's the hot mix girl on the show. She fits in the Fast Crew well. She gets better as the story goes on.

-Ass shots: We get a LOT close up shots women's asses in the movie. Granted that is the Fast franchise signature, but this movie goes hyper with butt shots. I'm not complaining, because I am a straight guy. I just want to warn you if you get offended by that sort of thing. I remember seeing one woman shaking her head in the theater when there is one prolonged shot up a woman's short skirt during the Race Wars scene. I chuckled.

-Vin Diesel is pretty bad in this movie: He talks even slower than before and has some of the most cheesy lines ever. And, drink every time he says “Family”. I think he hasn't gotten over his Groot role. Diesel clearly has a much bigger part in the movie than he was supposed to due to Paul Walker's death. I don't hate his character, but I was never a fan of it either. It takes Russell's character to pep him up. 

 They both read the wiki page on Chris Chan.  

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