Furious 7

Could it be the starting of the summer movie season so early? Considering it's only April 3rd, I think not. But with the release of the much awaited "Furious 7" today, one might think summer has begun. This being the 7th installment of the franchise, hence the name, it feels like summer has already started. Hey, let's start early to get those 18-34 year old single males in those theater seats--cha ching!

Dominic 'Dom' Toretto (Vin Diesel) and Brian O'Conner (Paul Walker) and their crew thought they had left the criminal mercenary life behind. They defeated an international terrorist named Owen Shaw (Luke Evans) and went their separate ways. But now, Shaw's older brother, Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham) is out killing the crew one by one for revenge. Worse, a Somalian terrorist called Jakarde (Djimon Hounsou) and a shady government official called "Mr. Nobody" (Kurt Russell) are both competing to steal a computer terrorism program called God's Eye, that can turn any technological device into an all-seeing weapon. Toretto and O'Conner must reconvene with their team including Letty (Michelle Rodriguez), Roman (Tyrese Gibson), and Tej (Chris 'Ludacris' Bridges) along with Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) to stop Shaw and retrieve the God's Eye program while caught in a power struggle between terrorists and the United States government.

Others to round out the cast are Jordana Brewster as Mia, O'Conner's wife, Lucas Black as Sean Boswell, Nathalie Emmanuel as Ramsay, the key hacker, Tony Jaa as Kiet, henchman of Shaw, and John Brotherton as Sheppard.

This was effectively staged and paced by director James Wan ("Stygian" 2000, "Saw" '04, "Death Sentence" '07, "Insidious" '10, "The Conjuring" '13, "Insidious: Chapter 2" '13) in that most of his experience lies within the horror genre. However, grit and intensity can and does crossover into many genres, so it's no doubt that this guy couldn't pull this off. It was written in the same vein as many of the other 'Fast and Furious' films by Chris Morgan ("Cellular" '04, "The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift" '06, "Wanted" '08, "Fast & Furious" '09, "Fast Five" '11, "Fast & Furious 6" '13, "47 Ronin" '13). As I said most, because he didn't write the original. This was the brain child of Gary Scott Thompson, and he couldn't have had any idea that the original film would ever become the mega-franchise it has become. This was slickly written by Morgan who, of course, knows this material almost as much as its creator-- Thompson. And the cinematography by Stephen F. Windon, acs. worked so well with the storyline in that when their was a vehicle rollover or two guys fighting and would rollover within the fight, the camera would 'roll' with the vehicles or actors which definitely helped with the feel of the film without making its audience dizzy. For this genre, it was certainly a worthy script-- it had a couple of choppy areas but not enough to detract from the intensity and the incredible stunts this flick provided. It was also a great send off for Paul Walker-- it being his last film. So, for Paul, he will be sorely missed, but we can still see him in so many films he had been involved with. Will there be another 'Furious' film? It remains to be seen. With losing one of the main characters, if it is decided to continue, the cast for another character to replace Walker will be the casting decision of a casting director's career.

Anything Academy Award worthy here? No. A great popcorn flick one can escape into and enjoy a simple but slick, gritty storyline? Sure. And believe me, this installment of this franchise will, no doubt, fill the bill of the enjoyment we all look forward to when heading to the multiplex.

Out of 4 Stars: 3                                      Rated: PG-13                                137mins.