Review // The Fate of the Furious

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The Fate of the Furious is sealed this weekend in the eighth (and possibly last) film in the Fast and Furious franchise.

When Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) is recruited for a black ops mission he calls on Dom Torretto (Vin Diesel) and his crew for back up. Cutting their honeymoon short, Dom and Letty (Michelle’s Rodriguez) join the rest of the team (sans Brian and Mia of course) in Berlin to re-steal an EMP device from terrorists. However the “Torretto family” is double-crossed by the one guy they never suspected, Papa Bear himself, Dom. Turns out Dom was recruited by one of the Matrix Reloaded twins masquerading as a legendary cyber criminal known as Cipher (Charlize Theron). The long and short of it is that it’s up to Hobbs, Letty, Tej (Chris “Ludacris” Bridges), Ramsey (Nathalie Emmanuel) and Roman (Tyrese Gibson) with the help of Kurt Russell’s Mr. Nobody, his protégé (Scott Eastwood) and former villain Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham) to stop Cipher and bring Dom back to the light side.

Without any major spoilers, that’s all the plot this review can divulge. Luckily, it’s also all that is needed to follow the film. There are few more tidbits that keep the story going but the strength of the Fast and Furious sequels was never plot. Fate’s plot holes are so big you could sink a tank in them. But, then again, the film delivers what the franchise is famous for: fast cars, incredible action set pieces and even better one-liners.

The action is beyond entertaining. While the dialogue could use work, Hobbs and Deckard’s prison brawl is even better than the Hobbs/Dom matchup in Fast Five (2011). This is also the first time the franchise gets cold, and I mean COLD. The final showdown takes place in a decommissioned Russian military base that is literally on a sheet of ice. And while a Lamborghini is in play, the showstoppers are the souped up military vehicles including a tank and a submarine. Yes, the toys are pretty cool in Fate. It’s a visual spectacle and an adrenaline thrill ride, though the payout would have been stronger if the plot development was a little better. However, with a runtime of just over 2 hours and 30 minutes I understand why more screen time was given to car chases than exposition.

If you need a plot that makes a lick of sense then skip this film. But, if you’ve managed to suspend your disbelief enough to sit through the other seven films in the franchise, you’ll certainly enjoy the latest ride.

Reviewed by Vithiya Murugadas.