Tuesday, April 18, 2017

Movie Review … The Fate Of The Furious

The ‘Fast and the Furious’ movies have been extremely popular since the first entry in 2001.  Full of fast cars, hot chicks and muscled he-men, it has everything commercial Hollywood loves.  It continues to strike gold at the box office which is a testament to its adaptability.  Moving from a street-racing franchise to a global heist, the series has changed with the times at brisk speed.  The eighth installment, ‘The Fate of the Furious’ is even faster paced zooming along in full-throttle in its ever increasingly outlandish escapades.

With his crew cleared of various charges and living their lives, newly married former criminal Dominic (Vin Diesel) is enjoying a quieter life.  Along with his wife Letty (Michelle Rodriguez), he thinks their troubles are finally at rest.  Mysterious criminal Cipher (Charlize Theron) enters the frame and Dom’s life is turned upside down.  What follows is a smorgasbord of betrayal, vengeance and explosive car chases as Dom seeks to restore order.

‘The Fate of the Furious’ is a completely ridiculous and silly addition to the series. It’s also vastly entertaining with some incredible stunt-work and action set-pieces. It knows it is total rubbish and makes no apologies for it.  Very much a comic-book style flick full of impossibly chiselled guys and gals doing eye-popping things.  Full of colour, humour and never taking itself seriously it’s an entertaining experience where the brain is definitely left at the cinema door.

Making ‘The Fate of the Furious’ more interesting is its’ choice of villain.  Charlize Theron’s icy baddie oozes evil with her talent for mind games evident.  Using brains instead of brawn she provides emotional turmoil for Dominic to overcome.  Other new characters are reasonably fleshed out amidst the long run-time with director’s F. Gary Gray’s determination to focus on characterisation pleasing.  The series regulars know the drill by now and clearly have fun throwing themselves into the mayhem with energetic gusto.

With rumours the franchise may end up in space, the sky is literally the limit.  ‘The Fate of the Furious’ is spectacular nonsense only a gargantuan budget can provide.  If you see it in the right frame of mind you’ll enjoy the explosive malarkey of a series seemingly without end.

 
Movie Review Rating out of 10:  7

Movie Review by Patrick Moore

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Patrick Moore's Movie Review is an alternative look at movie releases in Australia.




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