A True “Bro” Blockbuster: Minimal Angst, Maximum Awesomeness

In the climax of “Fast & Furious 6,” the protagonists send their adversary Owen Shaw to the hospital, enraging his brother Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham), a former British super-agent and now an international mercenary. Shaw Sr. vows to exact brutal revenge on those who turned his relative into a comatose “vegetable.” When Deckard kills Han and sends Dominic (Vin Diesel) and Brian (Paul Walker) boxes with bombs that destroy their homes and nearly kill them, a secret agent of the American government (Kurt Russell) offers the friends a deal. If they rescue a super-hacker kidnapped by foreigners and return his program to America, which can hack into any computer network, the authorities will help them in their search for Deckard, known for his elusiveness. Reluctantly agreeing, Dominic, Brian, Roman (Tyrese Gibson), Tej (Chris Bridges), and Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) set off first to Azerbaijan, and then to Abu Dhabi.

The Azerbaijan scenes in the film were shot in Colorado and Arizona. The film crew did without a trip to the Transcaucasus.

While other film series are running out of steam, doing the same thing from series to series, “Fast & Furious” lives and thrives because it is constantly changing. Remember how in the very first series the plot revolved around illegal races on the streets of Los Angeles, and Brian and Dominic were enemies on opposite sides of the law? Six series and fourteen years later, the main characters call each other “brothers” and travel to exotic countries, performing “dirty” and extremely dangerous tasks for the American government. Racing? What racing? In “Furious 7” there is only one short racing scene in which Dominic tries to remind Letty, who has lost her memory, what they did before they met Brian. And before they became unofficial James Bonds and Ethan Hunts in the service of Uncle Sam.

The Lykan HyperSport of the Lebanese company W Motors, which was filmed in the Arab scenes of “Furious 7”, is the first supercar produced in the Middle East. Only 7 of them were produced, and each such car costs $3.4 million. In particular, because they have gemstone-encrusted headlights.

The Unchanging Core

Some things, however, don’t change, no matter where fate throws the heroes. Even the change of director (after four series under the direction of Justin Lin, “Furious 7” was directed by James Wan, co-author of “Saw”) did not teach Dominic, Brian, and their friends to express their feelings in a human way. Whenever the partners start talking about “feelings,” you want to cover your ears and run out of the hall screaming “I don’t believe it!”. You also want to close your eyes at such moments – the “woodenness” of Walker and Diesel has only become more wooden in fourteen years. It kills even those scenes in which the scriptwriters managed to put words together in not the most shameful sentences in the history of cinema. The creators of the picture were able to squeeze out genuine emotions only in the epilogue, where they touchingly said goodbye to Walker, who died absurdly during filming. Although these fragments, frankly, could have been filmed more soulfully.

Scenes in which Paul Walker did not have time to play were completed with the help of understudies and computer graphics.

Action Over Angst

Fortunately, “Furious 7” is not a drama or a melodrama, and “feelings” take up only a few minutes of screen time. Even such a seemingly important topic for the characters as the gradual return of memory to Letty is only outlined with a thin dotted line, so as not to interfere with the main thing – action, action, and more action!

A jump from an airplane in cars, a road shootout involving armored vehicles and machine guns, a flight in a car from one skyscraper to another, a culminating street massacre with a military helicopter and an armed missile drone… The latest series of “Fast & Furious” are famous for combat madness, and the seventh series, if it did not raise the bar to a new height (the sixth series set a very high action standard), then definitely did not disappoint.

Suspend Your Disbelief

True, if you think about what is happening on the screen, you can die laughing from the finale, since it is impossible to imagine that after 9/11 a combat helicopter with foreign mercenaries would be allowed to even fly to the center of Los Angeles without a million approvals. Not to mention shooting police cars with impunity and firing missiles at the main characters fleeing from him. And, by the way, if the characters are on their native land, then why are they fighting terrorists alone? After all, they are on the side of the authorities, not against them… However, there is no time to think in the culmination. It is so dashing and driving that you can only absorb the hurricane action pouring from the screen.

Hand-to-Hand Combat Highlights

Surprisingly for a cycle mainly dedicated to cars and “mechanical” stunts, in the seventh “Fast & Furious” the most powerful scenes are those in which heroes and villains fight one on one, in the best traditions of Hollywood and Hong Kong. Dwayne Johnson against Jason Statham (Agent Hobbs hardly participates in the main action, but adorns the beginning and end of the film), Paul Walker against Thai action star Tony Jaa, Michelle Rodriguez against mixed martial arts champion Ronda Rousey, Vin Diesel against Statham… Even if there were no large-scale and dizzying special effects scenes in the film, these five chamber fights (Walker and Jaa fight twice) would be enough to recoup the price of the ticket.

Streamlined Team Dynamics

Another advantage of the film is the reasonable number of main characters. In full force, Dominic’s team was clumsy, and thinning it out benefited it. Five people is the ideal, time-tested number of a screen squad, in which each member has his own plot function. Dominic commands, Brian shoots, techie Tej hacks, Letty adds feminine charm (and masterful driving), and Roman serves as the voice of reason and a convivial jester. Everyone else just gets in the way – as happens with the hacker who joins the characters and presses the right buttons at the right time, but somehow doesn’t fit into the established team.

Stellar Supporting Cast

From the presence of Kurt Russell, on the other hand, the picture has benefited. A charismatic actor is always welcome in a film where the main characters have problems with star charisma. And, of course, Jason Statham is the perfect villain for such a movie. Since he is one of the few actors who can seem dangerous opponents, even when their characters are in the minority and surrounded on all sides. Although, of course, usually Shaw does not oppose the heroes alone. In order for someone to fly to the side of the road and explode in battles with Dominic’s team, Deckard is cooperating with the “cool guys” who stole the hacker under the command of Djimon Hounsou’s character. It is their helicopter that one of the heroes shoots down… No, we won’t tell. This scene must be seen!

The Verdict

Ultimately, however, “Fast & Furious” is “Fast & Furious.” If you have not been imbued with love for the adventures of super racers in the previous six series, the seventh series will not “buy” you. Yes, this is a spectacular and dynamic stunt movie, but how many such blockbusters are released every year? However, if you are even a little worried about Dominic and Co, then “Furious 7” cannot be missed, and it should be seen on the big screen. Preferably, however, not at a 3D session. The fact is that the three-dimensional picture blurs rapid horizontal movements, and in a jet-powered chase movie, such movements are in every third or fourth frame.