The Fate of the Furious

At this point in the 8-film Fast and Furious franchise, I've found that there are three kinds of people:

1) The person that completely realizes what the purpose of these films is, openly enjoys them, and continues to look forward to them assuming the quality remains high.

2) The person who scoffs at the thought of an 8th iteration of anything and assumes that these films are big (they are), dumb (correct again), and useless (opinion of the moviegoer). 

3) The person who acts like person #2, but is secretly person #1.

In the last several months I've noticed a considerable amount of people residing in the #2 camp and I'm curious if the uptick in that is because they wanted it to end at Furious 7 with Walker's unfortunate death. I completely understand that view and if the story of the new trilogy ends up falling flat, it'll be apparent that maybe they should have ended with that film's beautiful conclusion. I have a feeling that there are a lot #3s in truth because this franchise continues to deliver. Ever since Fast Five, the series has been revitalized and found its groove with both 6 and 7 being very close in quality to the series high point. 

Of course, that's apparent to everyone, so I struggle to see why audiences seem tepid this time around despite three films worth of good-faith. Bonkers, loud, and physics-defying good faith, sure, but quality fun nonetheless. Maybe that's just Denver for you?

Anyway, I'm here to declare The Fate of the Furious as one more film to add to the "good faith" of this franchise and I was actually surprised how much I liked it. As someone who left Furious 7 slightly let down, but still highly entertained, I came out of Fate still very entertained and very impressed. That's an accomplishment for any 8th iteration of a film franchise but it's a particular triumph for Fate because it gets me excited for the remainder of this new trilogy that seems to be the actual final ride once it all ends in 2021. 

Furiousa! Who knew you had such lovely hair?

As is the case with all films of this nature, The Fate of the Furious won't win any new fans to the franchise, nor will it disappoint fans that enjoy what they've become. Similar to the Mission Impossible series, these films are always trying to outdo themselves, which is impressive in its own right considering that they've previously trailed a bank vault through the streets of Rio, avoided a tank on European highways, brought down a plane with cars, and jumped between skyscrapers with a car. Fate ups the ante somewhat, but I was actually most impressed with the story this time around. Surprised? Me too. It's still dense, overly convoluted, and melodramatic -- like the rest of them. BUT, it was well hidden from the trailers -- I can't say the same thing about the film's biggest stunts -- and goes to surprisingly dark places. This is thanks in part to Charlize Theron who plays the series' best villain thus far by a mile. Her motives are still a little shaky, but her demeanor and ways of getting what she wants are what you'd expect from a great villain in a series like this. The story isn't "smart" by any means, mind you, but it's got some nice surprises in there, the motivations behind Dom's rogue behavior are surprisingly understandable (I thought this would be the dumbest part of the film), and it generally makes sense. 

And then they broke out into a dance battle...

People come to these films for the action though. Duh...it's often awesome and inventive. With Fate, that trend continues and there's still plenty to enjoy here that you haven't seen before. It's clear the series is at a tipping point of balancing "going bigger" and CGI effects, but thanks to all the money previous installments have made, the CGI is pretty top notch. There are a handful of times that it looks fake and it's those moments that pulled me right from the action, but otherwise this is a good looking film with a strong percentage of stunts that were achieved with practical effects. The ending action sequence was probably my favorite just because the last time we've seen an ice race was with Die Another Day and this one is better even if that scene was one of the best parts of that Bond film. Cars aside however, this installment has some fantastic hand-to-hand combat sections; probably the best in the series. My absolute favorite scene of the film doesn't have a car in sight but is instead a prison break scene featuring Johnson and Statham literally beating the hell out of everyone. It's awesome, has great choreography, perfect song choice, and has bursts of humor. I was entertained for much of this film, but this scene I was down-right giddy.

Fate is also funny, which isn't new to the series, but I felt the laughs were contained more to specific scenes this time around. I didn't find the brotherly banter between Tej and Roman as funny this time, but a particular action scene with Statham brings a ton of humor. The cast is better than ever mainly just because they're so comfortable in their roles by now. I found myself missing Gal Gadot who, at this point, would have added some insane star power to the proceedings, but overall this still feels like a family rather than a cast and it is part of what makes the Furious franchise so unique. Awkwardly, the Johnson and Diesel beef seems real (I could have sworn it would end up being a PR stunt) and the film struggles to get them both in the same frame which is surprising given that they share the film's poster together. It doesn't stand out unless you're looking for it, but once you notice they're essentially avoiding each other, it sticks out like a sore thumb. Doesn't hurt the film per say, just interesting -- and a bit disappointing -- to see. 

The series officially becomes fantasy genre as a snow creature chases them across the ice

Fate of the Furious is the first film in this series since Fast Five to surprise me. Likely because my expectations/hype were far better managed this time around and I was even expecting a let-down. Thanks to some marketing that kept a lot of the right things hidden, there are more than enough surprises here to make the story interesting and the action is still thoughtful and impossible. Above all else however, these films continue to remain entertaining and fun. And as long as they keep doing that, I'll keep watching.

CONS 

• Advertising ruined some of the best stunts
• CGI has a handful of weak moments -- it takes you out of the film quickly
• A portion of the jokes fall flat
• Still a very melodramatic, almost soap-opera-esque, series. I could argue this is a cheesy PRO though too
• Not sure if real or not, but the avoidance of Johnson/Diesel sharing the screen is distracting

PROS

• Advertising keeping the story and some of the better surprises under wraps
• Strong motive for Dom to turn that makes sense and Theron is a dark villain who takes the film to some of the series' darkest moments
• Cast remains like family even with some core departures
• Fun and "new" car-based action that is laughably but awesomely impossible
• Fantastic hand-to-hand combat. Arguably the film's two best scenes are fist/gun fights
• Hilarious moments
• Thoughtful continuation of the story that, for the time being, justifies a new and likely final trilogy
• Fun and entertaining. Exactly what we've come to expect from these films

Rath's Review Score | 8.5/10