It’s go big or go home with The Fate of the Furious and director F. Gary Grey and his all star cast smash it out of the park with this action extravaganza.
Set following the events of Fast and Furious 7, Fate of the Furious follows Vin Diesel’s Dominic Toretto as he falls to the dark side after coming into contact with nefarious cyber terrorist Cipher.
Seeing Diesel go dark is a particularly shocking experience given the fact that he has never really played the villain before. But once he commits Diesel goes bad and you wonder just whether he can ever come back to the light.
As I watched this I found myself wondering how such a stoic, heroic man like Dom would ever betray his family and the answer really took me by surprise. It comes completely out of left field and really raised the stakes for me as an audience member.
While Dom and his family may have come up against plenty of dangerous villains in their time they’ve never had to contend with anyone like Charlize Theron’s Cipher.
Where previously Dom could always fight his way out of any situation through a combination of strength and speed here he faces a villain who overpowers him with her raw intellect. Theron crafts a terrifying villainous who is always six moves ahead of Dom and has the ability to anticipate his every reaction.
She plays the part with an understated sense of sadism, and her psychological mind games do plenty of damage inside his fractured head.
The Fate of the Furious doesn’t just raise the playing field with an all-new villain but it continues in its mission to reinvent the franchise. From a street racing crime series to international heist movies the franchise now transitions with this eighth installment into that of an all out spy thriller.
With exotic locations, a high stake mission and Cipher’s intentions on establishing a new world order, the film has all the qualities of the best spy thrillers. Such elements not only make for great on-screen action for audiences but also force the film’s characters to adapt to a new environment where their actions have global repercussions.
Fate of the Furious is also a car lovers dream come true thanks to plenty of finely tuned machines and some great chase sequences. The film’s opening is a particularly cool example that was shot on location in Havana, Cuba and features a showdown between a 1949 Chevrolet Fleetline and a 1956 Ford Customline.
Grey and his stunt team make use of the tight Cuban coastline, and the rubber seriously meets the payment as Diesel pushes his 49 Chevrolet to its limit in a fiery burst of acceleration.
It only gets better when the Toretto crew visits the clandestine garage that is affectionately known as The Toy Shop. On display here are some amazingly beautiful cars including the likes of a McLaren Super Series 675 LT, a 2017 Lotus Evora, a 2017 Mercedes-AMG GT S, a 2017 Bentley Continental GT and a 2010 Lamborgini Murciélago LP 670–4 SuperVeloce.
But these vehicles are not just for display and are put to the test in some hard charging driving sequences in both New York City and Russia that provide some of the craziest stunt sequences that the franchise has seen yet.
While it’s kind of unheard of to think of a franchise like this continuing to be so fresh after so many films The Fate of the Furious gets there with plenty of left field twists and surprise appearances. And I can’t forget to mention the cameo appearance from Helen Mirren, who appearing only briefly on-screen completely steals the movie form her male co-stars.
The Fate of the Furious is just an all out fun time at the movies with plenty of turbo charged cars and big explosions.
It couples great action with a gripping story that continues to explore these character’s choices and just what kind of sacrifices are needed to ensure one’s survival of one’s family. My advice is to just go in and enjoy the ride, because The Fate of the Furious is bombastic cinema at its best.