Fast & Furiosa
By Dwayne Tillman
I don’t think anyone could have predicted when the street racing action film The Fast and the Furious came out all the way back in 2001 that it would be the first in what would go on to be one of the most successful franchises of all time, not to mention a series that would evolve from being a quaint street racing series to a full-blown action behemoth where people battle giant submarines in bright orange Lamborghinis. But here we are, sixteen years and seven films later with the eighth film in the franchise, The Fate of the Furious, which is somehow an even more ridiculous title than 2 Fast 2 Furious. Following up the high precedent set (artistically and commercially) by Furious 7, F8 was always going to have its work cut out for it to even come close to touching it. Unfortunately, F8 puts a series that seemed to be going forward at high speed in reverse, making for a sporadically entertaining but mostly forgettable popcorn blockbuster that gives you what you expect, but on a less satisfying level.
While the last few Fast & Furious films have basically been heist films on a massive scale, Fate shifts gear and becomes more of spy flick. Whilst on his honeymoon in Cuba, Dominic Torretto (Vin Diesel) is cornered by Charlize Theron’s Cipher (yes, that’s really her name), who sways him to break apart from his family and join her side. Why he decides to join her, doesn’t actually become clear until about halfway through the film. Meanwhile, the rest of team band back together, this time teaming up with Jason Statham’s Deckard Shaw to track her down and stop her destroying the world with some nuclear device. Or something. Look, the plot was never the strong point in a Fast & Furious film, so that’s basically all that you need to know and all that you probably pick up on anyway.
Because that’s one of the major problems of The Fate of the Furious. There are too many colliding plot points and character motivations that the whole film lacks a sense of focus, something that the previous three films didn’t lose sight of. This film should have been an intense, exciting, clash of the titans that went deeper into these characters that we have come to know and like over the previous 7 films. Instead, everyone seems to be in different films, and there is too much going on within that that you can’t connect or feel any sense of chemistry that you’re used to with this series. Having known these characters, the family being torn apart thing should really sting, but it instead comes across as forced soap opera. There isn’t much in the way of plot progression either. When they aren’t totalling the streets of New York or chasing down submarines in Russia, they’re simply sitting behind computers, trying to track down their foes. Guys, we’ve seen this a million times before, and again, it’s simply not exciting.
Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham are the only actors in this film that actually come across as interesting. Johnson’s irresistible charisma and Statham’s macho self-awareness inject some actual fun and life into their tired surroundings. And I won’t lie, I got a bit of unintentional humour out of seeing Vin Diesel attempting to act emotionally conflicted. The biggest disappointment by far in this film is Charlize Theron, which isn’t entirely her fault. Cipher is a bland villain whose true motivations are never clear. She’s essentially reduced to relentlessly dull monologues, risible one-liners and shouting orders behind a computer screen. To reduce the great Furiosa down to this is downright criminal.
Granted, there is still a little bit of a kick to get out of Fate’s action scenes. The New York pile up scene is genuinely impressive and should be experienced on the largest screen you can. The ice-set climax is where you really get that sense of fun and preposterous thrills we actually watch this series for, even if you miss some of the inspired creativity of James Wan’s action scenes in the previous instalment. I’ll give the filmmakers credit for constantly being able to turn it up to eleven and up the ante.
The Fate of the Furious is passable entertainment, and as a two-hour time waster, you could do a lot worse. It’s just a shame that a series that once prided itself on its self-awareness and embrace of its own ridiculousness has veered into the territory of self-parody and self-seriousness. With two films left in the series, it’s probably time for a bit of a regas.