Fast and Furious 8 Movie Review

Released: 12th April 2017 (UK)

Length: 136 Minutes

Certificate: 12A

Director: F. Gary Gray

Starring: Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Dwayne Johnson, Jason Statham, Tyrese Gibson, Chris Bridges, Nathalie Emmanuel, Scott Eastwood, Charlize Theron, Kurt Russel and Helen Mirren 

Having reached its peak with Furious 7 in 2015, the franchise continues with what could be the first of a new trilogy. Also known as “The Fate of the Furious”, Fast and Furious number 8 sits somewhere in the middle of the quality spectrum.

Taking place after the departure of Paul Walker’s Bryan O’Connor, Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) stumbles across a mysterious woman in Cuba named Cipher (Charlize Theoron); she shows Dom something telling, a revelation that causes him to break off from his original team and work for her instead; with the ability to hack just about any infrastructure on the planet, Cipher’s quest for coercion and supremacy is book-ended by the typical Fast and Furious fare; easy-going character chemistry and action sequences set to full blast. It’s a well-established formula at this point that does show its age in some ways. The first act is rather weak, with a massive jump cut that thrusts the audience right into the first action scene without any kind of build-up. Dom’s turn away from family also moves too quickly for its own good, opting instead to deliver the eventual reveal further on; there’s never a moment for the characters to fully react to the betrayal. It’s also the first of the series to pop in a plot thread for a sequel. Luckily things do pick up through the rest of the film as the action brings some more twists and turns into the mix. It’s certainly darker than other films in the series, aiming to give its antagonist more sinister mannerisms and to this effect it succeeds, lowering the amount of sunny racing ventures for a more technological affair. Fast and Furious 8 has taken a step back or two, resulting in a less memorable plot than before.

The characters are mostly bound to their archetypes, though some bring more detail to bear. For a mostly square-jawed actor, Vin Diesel does take his character a step further here, showcasing some more emotion. The others including Tyrese Gibson, Chris Bridges, Michelle Rodriguez and Nathalie Emmanuel all play off each other without issue; it’s a fairly safe approach. Some of the best camaraderie this time comes from Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) and previous antagonist Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham) who bounce insults off each-other with such reckless abandon that you can’t help but get into it. The main cast may remain strong but when introducing new characters, 8 falls short. Charlize Theron’s Cipher may have a dangerous power at her fingertips but there isn’t that much else to her as a character. Helen Mirren really doesn’t do anything here either; she shows up for about five minutes to make a link with Jason Statham and then gets off screen, perhaps coming back for the next couple of films they’re bound to put out. New characters aside, the back-and-forth between the team remains on top form.

Like its predecessors, Fast and Furious 8 doesn’t skip a beat when it comes to action which is well handled yet again, mixing up the explosions and pyrotechnics with an increasing scale; there’s nothing as bombastic as crashing a Ferrari through a skyscraper but it has its fair share of moments, some of which have more of a plausibility to them. One of its best sequences involving a horde of self-driving cars is very reminiscent of The Blues Brothers, mashing the vehicles together in an explosive set-piece. At other points it gets completely ridiculous, especially with a jailbreak sequence involving Johnson and Statham in a claustrophobic hand-to-hand fight. When it comes to action, variety is still the franchise’s biggest strength, mixing and matching all sorts of different scenarios. Fast 8 keeps up that trend effortlessly; add to that the continued use of loud, pumping rap songs and you have the same wild ride that has pulled in so many audiences.

The Fast and Furious series rumbles on briskly with number 8, another sound action romp that stumbles in its first act and new characters. After such an extended drive, the series formula is beginning to wear thin at this point, but it still delivers where it counts.

Rating: 3/5 Stars (Fair)