Fate of the Furious (aka Furious 8) (2017)

[Webslinger]

The Fate of the Furious is pretty much what I expected: dumb as a post, but highly enjoyable. It's the least of the films since they found their footing with the fifth installment, but I still had many moments in which I couldn't help but smile at the deliriously absurd nature of its over-the-top spectacle. These films have done such a good job of embracing their leaps in logic and elevated machismo that it's easy to overlook problems that would sink more self-serious efforts. Once again, the stunts are aces and the ensemble cast - which gets a terrific assist from the always-stellar Charlize Theron as the most engaging villain of the series to date - is fun to watch. It won't win any new converts to the long-running franchise, but it's solid entertainment for viewers who were already invested in this universe.

 

B

 

And now some Spoilery Stray Thoughts!

 

Spoiler

- Elsa Pataky's character deserved way, way better than the fate she meets here. After giving her significant screen time in the fifth film, she barely appeared in the sixth and seventh installments, then shows up just to be held hostage and then murdered in this one. At least let her go out in one of the action sequences...

- As I'm sure will be the case for many viewers, I didn't buy Jason Statham's "death" for a second, but someone in the auditorium actually gasped when he returned in the third act.

- I'm disappointed that after all the hype feud, we didn't get some huge onscreen throwdown between Vin and The Rock. I guess he can tolerate candy-asses after all.

 

[Fancyarcher]

Can't say it was high art or anything, and it probably won't get much rewatch out of me specially given its unnecessary length, but it was a blast to watch in the cinemas, especially in 4DXX, where I experienced it almost literally. That was great.

 

Theron was really good as the villain too, and the stunts and set-pieces are of course spectacular. A solid entry in the series. 7 / 10

[cheesypoofs]

If Tyrese dies in 9 or 10 I'm gonna be pissed. He's always been my favorite character in this series ever since the first time I watched 2 Fast.

[RobinHood26]

Recorded another cinemasesh podcast for F8te if you're bored   http://cinemasesh.libsyn.com/fate-of-the-furious

[MrFanaticGuy34]

9 hours ago, cheesypoofs said:

If Tyrese dies in 9 or 10 I'm gonna be pissed. He's always been my favorite character in this series ever since the first time I watched 2 Fast.

I don't think Roman is gonna be killed off in the sequels. He's too likeable to end in the same fate as Han, Giselle & Vince.

[movieboner]

I found the humor great with Tyrese making those silly one liners. I cracked at the black santa scene when he was presented with the car. The penis measuring contest between Statham and The Rock in their jail cells was hilarious. I found the action too much, redundant, and silly. The only action scenes I liked were the prison escape fight and NYC car chase.

[Blankments]

The Fate of the Furious's biggest problem comes from its tagline. "Family No More." The family focus is mostly gone here outside of a fantastic opening race and the very end of the film, and in its place is just quips. All the drama is relegated to Letty and Dom separately, and it feels wrong in a lot of ways. At its heart, Fast and Furious is half soap opera where you care about all the characters, half action movie with breathtaking spectacle and silly setpieces. This film only gets the latter right. It goes for a cheap new motivation rather than any of the previously set-up family stakes, and it just doesn't work. The loss of Walker/Brian is felt strongly, because without an everyman in the middle of it, it just feels kinda aimless.

 

The action as mentioned works well. The best moments are all lower scale, be it a prison break or the already commended opening race. The big setpieces feel forced, without any real hook to them (although self-driving cars admittedly come close). Statham steals the show in action and in character as he's the only thing that really feels fresh here. Theron is an alright villain but is underutilized in a lot of aspects. Eastwood is dreadful, making one wish for even the low charisma of Liam Hemsworth to make his role somewhat memorable.

 

However, The Fate of the Furious is an entirely forgettable endeavor. When the best moment of an action movie is a cameo of a character who by all accounts should not even still be alive, that cannot be viewed as a good thing. Gray tries his hardest, but The Fate of the Furious makes it clear that Furious 7 should've been the end of the franchise. A very disappointing film. C-

[RobinHood26]

@Blankments you should know you're one of my favorite reviewers on here and letterboxd. I'm too lazy to type reviews all the time or lengthy ones but lots of times I feel we see pretty eye to eye and I can always see why you would think that even if when we disagree I feel. 

Edited April 27, 2017 by Jay Hollywood

[Blankments]

3 hours ago, Jay Hollywood said:

@Blankments you should know you're one of my favorite reviewers on here and letterboxd. I'm too lazy to type reviews all the time or lengthy ones but  75% of the time I'm like yeah what Blanks said

we don't always agree but I feel we see pretty eye to eye on most and I can always see why you would think that, which is most important. 

Awesome, man, that's great to hear. Thanks, I always like reading your opinion too (especially when you go into depth rather than just putting up a score haha)

[BadAtGender]

It continues the tradition of being the pre-eminent action franchise out there. The set pieces here continue to be amazing, and they really show how to take some hokey concepts and make them really, really work. The New York sequence was wild as shit, and in pretty much any other franchise, it would seem really dumb, but it just works here.

 

Where it falters is from the one factor it couldn't really avoid: the loss of Paul Walker is pretty palpable. In the previous films, he had that right level of regular Joe to him that secured the emotional heart of the films. And, in Tokyo Drift, Lucas Black essentially filled the same role. There isn't anyone doing the same thing here, so even as much as Johnson and Statham step it up and deliver some really enjoyable performances, it doesn't feel quite the same anymore.

 

Still, it's nice to see that Statham gets to really shine. F7 was super fun, but his role was pretty one-note there. Being allowed to really do those action comedy chops he showcased in Spy is great.

 

It's not upper tier for the franchise for emotional heft, but in terms of action spectacle, it's absolutely top notch.

 

4/5

[MrFanaticGuy34]

Just fun popcorn-entertainment.

 

It was very sad to see Elena die in this one. I mean....she is the fourth protagonistic character in a row to get killed off. First Vince in Fast Five, then Gisele in Fast Six, then Han in Fast Seven (technically he died in the third film, Tokyo Drift, but that happened around Fast 7) and now Elena in this film.

 

Who’s gonna be the next one to get killed off in the next film? Tej? Roman? One or both of the Shaw brothers? Who knows...

 

I hope they don’t kill off more of the good guys. We want to see them survive.

Edited November 8, 2017 by MrFanaticGuy34

[John Rambo]

This one is not as good as FF 5,6, or 7.

Last 3 movies in the series was total fun. Liked them a lot in repeat viewings especially 5 and 7.

Fast 8 is dreadful this was the dumbest action movie this year. I know thats what most of the action movies are all about but this was unbearable. It was way too much and for me its like they've overdone it too much this time.

 

Haven't watched Fast 1-4 properly but id rate this as worst Fast movie among last 4.

For me the series peaked in 7 and then thats about it.

 

 

[Lordmandeep]

Pretty much a Bollywood action movie with much better effects

 

6 out ten

[That One Girl]

1 minute ago, Lordmandeep said:

with much better effects

 

1080p pirated copy?

[Lordmandeep]

4 minutes ago, That One Guy said:

 

1080p pirated copy?

I watched it in theaters for free never reviewed it .

 

Your joke is getting stale my friend.

 

 

Edited November 18, 2017 by Lordmandeep

[Kvikk Lunsj]

This needs to be added to the archives

[xanamanax]

Just watched on HBO. The action is insane. Reminded me of The Transporter 2 in how so much of the action was straight out over-the-top ridiculous. But while not the least bit realistic, it was incredibly entertaining if you just go with it. I could go with most although a couple of things just made me roll my eyes too much (the number of cars that had auto-drive & a submarine that could travel as fast as their cars, come on). Loved the banter between Hobbs and Deckard. Kurt Russell was pretty good too.

 

B-

[RobinHood26]

-

Edited March 9, 2019 by Jay Hollywood

[Apollo2xx]

How come this was not in Deadline's Most Valuable Blockbusters?