Had a fun time with this, I think basically if you liked 5 and 6 you will probably enjoy this one as it's more of the same though less easy-going humor and charm. I do wish they would go a notch or two less over-the-top, I don't expect a documentary but there's a few times where my suspension of disbelief had to be consciously put in check (not unlike other Fast entries). I was surprised that Spoiler drifting was never used. After the flashback I thought that could play some part in the end against SuperStatham. Oh and has he always been named Han Seoul-Oh? Somehow, I never noticed that. And I could watch Nathalie Emmanuel emerge from the ocean all day long.
Yeah the opening weekend takes is just astonishing. It's an April record by a mile. Won't see this myself till next weekend. But, my brother, SiL and mother went to it this afternoon (my mother out of nothing else to do) and my mom was talking about how much she ended up enjoying it and finding it entertaining. I, for one, love just how over-the-top the movies are. Yeah you have to completely suspend your disbelief (that safe scene in the fifth one!) but, somehow, the movie buys the leeway for you to suspend that much by at least being entertaining, with entertaining characters and just being generally fun. Worlds different than, say, the over-the-top action sequences in the Transformer movies.
Judging from audience response in the theater I think the "Holy Fuck I Can't Believe They Think They Can Get Away With That" moment is sort of the signature of the series now and the producers know it.
Definitely... It's about fun and being over the top... The audience applauded at the end of the film, which is rare these days. I've never seen one of these movies in a theater, so it definitely was interesting. My son is a big fan of the franchise, so this was high on his list of things to do. I've never really tracked with the series until lately and luckily the various movies seem to be on ALL THE TIME on cable so it's been easy to get caught up. The only thing I found distracting, believe it or not (with all the flying cars and crashing through buildings and such not withstanding), was the new scene with Lucas Black... Luckily he's kept it tight since Tokyo Drift, but you could totally tell he was a lot older than he was in the movie... Stupid that that should stand out in my mind, but it did.. Overall, a really nice movie and a very fitting tribute to Paul Walker. The wife actually shed a few tears.
Don't get me wrong, I get that and I don't want it not to be over-the-top but there's times where instead of going to 11 or 13 they're turning the dial to like 17.
Spoilers, deal with it Saw it last weekend and really liked it, though it would have been even better 10-15 minutes shorter. There's a sequence in a factory at night that could and should have been written out, and I kept waiting for Kurt Russell's character to double-cross the gang, but he didn't, and his big not-death scene was an odd fit for the pacing and plot. Overall, I find it not quite as good as Fast Five, but definitely better than Furious 6 with its drab London setting and dull Luke Evans baddie - the globetrotting locations and Statham/Hounsou were big improvements in those regards. (... So if Dom and Letty got married in Puerto Rico shortly before/during the beginning of Los Bandoleros/Fast & Furious, he straight-up ran away from his brand-new wife days after tying the knot? Holy totally unnecessary retcon, filmmakers!) The Walker tribute was quite touching. I was watching for scenes that he hadn't completed, but nothing jumped out at me particularly. Time to bring Mendes back to the saga.
I saw this last night and it has to be the stupidest film of the decade... That's not a critisism by the way, I really enjoyed it, it's just so utterly over the top. If aliens had landed at the end and said "Mr Toretto our planet has been invaded by evil driving robots and we need your help." I wouldn't have been remotely surprised
After a week of release Furious 7 stands a couple of bucks short of the half-billion dollar mark. I don't think it's a stupid movie any more than the Star Wars movies are stupid - at this point the F&F films are clearly carefully thought out and really well made. They're absurd, not dumb.
I get why the franchise is successful. It's fun, it's sexy, and even though strains credibility (what action film doesn't?) and "smart" is probably one of the last words I'd use to describe it, it's also full of diversity in its cast and the way they interact embodies a great Roddenberry-esque ideal, these people are a family. Vin Diesel says as much in several of the films. "I don't have friends. I got a family." That, I can totally get behind. I saw Furious 7 last night and besides some stupid teenagers sitting next to me who wouldn't shut up or stop checking their iPhones for texts, it was exactly what I wanted last night - a loud, big, insane action film. And very much like the tribute to Andy Whitfield at the end of Spartacus: War of the Damned, I thought the tribute and send-off of Paul Walker's character was classy and rather beautiful.
I liked 7 but it wasn't as good as 5 or 6 which I really liked. The entire final LA wasn't nearly as cool as the ones that preceded it. And the first act took too long to get going. And I thought the ending tribute to "Brian" was waaaaaay too fourth wall breaking. It would have been fine to do after the movie ended, but doing it in the context of the story was too artificial. I try to ignore logic in these kinds of movies, but this one really bugged me: they're working with Mr. Nobody to get the MacGuffin because they need it to find Shaw. YET SHAW APPEARS EVERYWHERE THEY GO. And when they find him? THEY LET HIM GET AWAY. It's like they're smashing together two separate plots without thinking about it.
How I'd rank the series: Fast 5 The Fast and the Furious Furious 7 Fast and Furious (no definite articles.) Fast and Furious 6 2 Fast 2 Furious TFTF: Tokyo Drift
TF&TF = 1 TD = 3 F&F = 4 The other ones have numbers in their titles, so. Yeah, Tokyo Drift is sort of the red-haired stepchild of the series, probably why its continuity with the franchise mas muddied so that it takes palce *after* 6 (or kind-of during it.) We could argue a lot of its plot happened different since Lucas Black obviously is much older now than his character was in TD. I like 6 and don't feel "comfortable" in placing it so low but, something has to be that low. It's probably there, then there's many, many spaces and a large break and *then* we get to 2F2F/TD.
Saw last weekend and loved. Absurd, baroque...yes. Stupid...no. The ending seemed a heartfelt and perfect send-off for Walker. Not manipulative or lachrymose (though I heard people sniffle), and one of few times I've seen and heard cynical UK movie audience break into applause. Phil Hoad in The Guardian (an avowed fan) has written a couple of beautiful elegies/appreciations. The tao of Paul Walker My guilty pleasure Plus any film franchise that Helen Mirren wants to be in gets my vote Ranking (to date after binge rewatch): 1. Fast Five 2. Furious 7 () 3. Original 4. 2F 2F (for introducing Roman and Tej, and foregrounding Walker) + Turbo-Charged short 5. F & F (+ Los Bandoleros) 6. Furious 6 (loved it, but not as good as F5 or 7 - maybe the fast & loose with London topography marked down) 7. TD (can appreciate more now after retcon; the STIII rather than Final Frontier - and I like ST5)
F7 broke the $1 billion mark in 17 days - a new record. Finally got to watch it myself, and I thoroughly enjoyed every second that did not include Iggy Azalea.