The "last" installment of The Fast and the Furious franchise wasn't it. So there's another movie with Fast cars at Furious speeds. This installment continues those traditions along with its wildly-varying title system. This time it's The Fate of the Furious.
Dom Toretto (Vin Diesel) and his wife, Letty (Michelle Rodriguez), spend their honeymoon in Havana.The evil hacker super-villain Cipher (Charlize Theron) blackmails Dom into her services. Dom runs Agent Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) off the road during a mission in Berlin and takes their prize: an EMP device. Hobbs gets disavowed and incarcerated, but is let out with Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham), the last movie's big bad. They and Dom's fellow racers have to stop Cipher from starting World War III. This will surely bring them in conflict with Dom.
And that's it for plot.
F. Gary Gray is the latest man behind the director's wheel, riding alongside screenwriter Chris Morgan. They continue the franchise's long tradition of wild car chases and stunts. It's most insane when Cipher and her goons set every car in Manhattan loose on a Russian diplomat's convoy. The climactic chase against Cipher's hijacked submarine was also spectacular. But the best bit is how Dom gets away from Cipher in the end.
Perhaps catching up on the previous installments is necessary this time. Part of the plot concerns Elena (Elsa Pataky), a character who first appeared in Fast Five, but I forgot about her till now. A few characters from the fourth movie, Fast & Furious, appear in key supporting roles. But I still remembered that the MacGuffin of Fast & Furious 6 was an EMP-Device like the one here. Huh. Fortunately, other details like Shaw's history with our heroes was properly explained.
But the cast still worked wonders. Johnson and Statham are just as efficient comedians as they are action stars. Some of the film's best laughs come from their hilariously over-the-top bickering. The other established stars are still a reliable crew as always. Cipher is so vile that the audience wants her dead. There's also a delightful cameo from Helen Mirren as Shaw's mother Magdalene.
I won't guess if The Fate of the Furious really is the last one. Remember last time? The end leaves it open for yet another sequel. And they still make money. Anyway, it's a good pre-summer blockbuster. It gives the audience elaborate action and reasons to care about it. Let's hope that a prospective ninth movie won't make the franchise crash and burn. The ride's been good so far.
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