Furious 7 offers little more than action

On Nov. 30, 2013, actor Paul Walker passed away following an automobile accident in Valencia, Santa Clarita, Calif., at the age of 40. At the time, he was partway through filming the seventh installment of the Fast and Furious films, for which he is well known. After a lengthy delay during which the cast and crew determined how best to proceed, on April 3, 2015, Furious 7 was finally released.

I bring up these facts because, in discussing the nature of Furious 7, it would be disingenuous not to acknowledge the relationship between Walker’s death and the film. In many ways, this film deals heavily with separations and departures.

The cloud of Walker’s death hangs above this film like a fog, always visible until the last scene. Undoubtedly, audiences will flock to theaters just to see how the film concludes the story arc of Walker’s character, Brian O’Conner, and how it pays its final respects to one of the actors who made the franchise what it is today. In an interview with Variety, actor Vin Diesel discussed his personal difficulties continuing the film despite the death of his co-star, and by this point very close friend, Paul Walker.

“I’m supposed to be in ‘killer mode,’” Diesel told Variety. “I went through three boxes of tissues, and I felt so sad. I felt so embarrassed. I had always been the kind of actor that other actors respect. I was just failing so hard. My nose was running and my eyes were tearing. I had to walk off-set to try to get all the fluids out. I couldn’t contain my emotions, and thus it became the hardest film I ever had to shoot.”

All moroseness aside, Furious 7, directed by James Wan (Saw, The Conjuring), is hardly what could be classified as a melancholic film. Known for pulse-pounding action, absurd chases and more car wrecks than rush hour in the winter, the Fast and Furious films have always offered only one thing: a decent popcorn flick. After all, there’s nothing wrong with a good turn-your-brain-off film every now and again, and these films have always been decent enough in that regard.

Furious 7, meanwhile, has promised to surpass such low expectations. It promises a darker, more personal plot and attempts to transcend it’s action-film roots. Vin Diesel, reprising his role as protagonist Dominic Toretto, has claimed that the film will be a contender for “best picture” at the 2016 Academy Awards. The question is, does the film succeed in achieving such lofty expectations?

Sorry, Vin Diesel, but you’ve set your sights just a tad too high.

This is not to say that the film fails to deliver what it promised. In fact, as far as Fast and Furious films are concerned, this one stands out particularly.

Following their victory over Owen Shaw, Toretto (Diesel) and his crew return to America with the hopes of resuming their normal lives. While O’Conner (Walker) attempts to come to terms with being a father and Letty Oritz (Michelle Rodriguez) attempts to recover her memories, a new threat begins to stir that threatens to shatter the crew’s newfound lives.

Owen Shaw’s assassin brother, Deckard (Jason Stratham), swears vengeance on the crew and begins targeting its members one-by-one. Forced to reassemble to combat this assassin, the crew soon finds themselves up against a criminal organization, trying to prevent them from gaining hold of highly dangerous espionage technology.

If you’re thinking that the film doesn’t seem to have too much substance, you are right. At the end of the day, the plot acts as little more than a vehicle which forces the characters back into actions they are so well known for.

Admittedly, the plot does try a bit harder than past installments to add personal drama into the mix, particularly regarding Walker’s character. Walker’s character struggles with the question of whether to remain with the crew or to settle down. Wan concludes O’Conner’s story arc with all the respect befitting the role.

That being said, the role of the drama within the film itself is minimal at best. None of the other characters are offered stories nearly as compelling. As one might expect, most of the film focuses on Diesel’s character and, unfortunately, Diesel does not give the best performance of his career. While he does not come across as bored, Diesel does little to insert himself into the Toretto role.

While this is typical of the films, it is still disappointing to watch Vin Diesel reading a script rather than forming a true character.

All this being said, it is common knowledge that no one is really going to see Furious 7 for the quality of its acting and story. The real question on everyone’s mind is “how cool are the driving/fighting/action scenes?” Well, fret not. This film has everything fans love about the films, and more.

With plenty of cars, explosions and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson in its scenes (often all at once), the film packs in plenty of visual flair and high-intensity moments to satisfy any action fan’s cravings. In fact, it may do so a bit too much. I will not deride a good action scene (and those in Furious 7 are truly masterfully done, a breath of fresh air in a market saturated with shaky-cam nonsense), but with the film clocking in at well over two hours, much of the action, as good as it is, ends up feeling a bit like filler.

Is Furious 7 a good movie? No, it’s really not. It’s big, it’s stupid, it’s over-the-top. In short, it’s everything one would expect in a Fast and Furious film. While the film should be commended for trying to add a bit more dramatic flair to the mix, heartstrings simply aren’t something that these films are known for. The best that can be said of Furious 7 is that it stays true to the franchise’s roots. And really, what better way is there to send off one of its mainstay actors?

Overall rating: 2.5/5