How fast is Fast 7? Well fast enough to rake in lots of bread (read monies) and fast enough to be called ‘one last ride’. At 137 minutes, perhaps the last in the series it pumps enough of adrenal, like it has been for the last decade and a half.
The creators of the Dominic Toretto and his ‘family’ (not friends) are not only laughing all the way to the bank but have been basking on private beaches since then.
With the seventh in the series, breaking all records of the others- they may just be owners of a private island where syndicate-speed-driving may be a legal pastime!
Toretto (Vin Diesel) comes out one last time, when his family is attacked: brother-from-different-parents, Brian O’Conner (Paul Walker) and his wife have settled down in domestic life with a kid and a future to look forward to when their home is blown off the face of the town by Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham), older brother of the villain killed in series 6.
Shaw is out for revenge on Toretto and his squad. He believes that the enemy of his enemy is his friend and has for company Jakande (Djimon Hounsou) and Han (Sung Kang) against the speed lovers.
God’s Eye, the latest American technology, actually performs like God and can pinpoint the location of anyone on good old earth- well, the world is not enough! Mr. Nobody (Kurt Russell) needs the ‘eye’ and the hacker Ramsey (Nathalie Emmanuel) before both are taken over by Jakande and Han.
In return, Toretto can use it to locate Shaw, destroy him and complete the pending story, thus giving the rest of all of them peaceful nights and a secure future. God knows how much he himself is also looking forward to settling down with Letty (Michelle Rodriguez)!
But getting the chip is no easy task as Ramsey had sent it to a friend of hers in Abu Dhabi and once there the rescue party learns that they have to break-into the Prince’s private suite to get the same.
Los Angles to Abu Dhabi, the scenes are breath taking and so are the stunts. Director James Wan (of the Conjuring fame) leaves no stone unturned to re-create Paul Walker in the film.
Unfortunately Walker passed away earlier (in an automobile accident) whilst this series was being filmed. Hence a lot of unused earlier footage and CGI (computer generated image) has been seamlessly woven into series 7 to create an omnipresent Walker. Walker’s brothers Caleb and Cody had also been roped in to fill in missing blanks.
Fans have found this to be the high point of the movie and the last five minutes of brotherly love and goodbye between Toretto and O’Conner have bowled millions globally- social media was on fire with RIP messages and tributes! That correct emotional strain, says it all.
Wan does know, to make an international film with an international appeal one has to think local and act global- just like the James Bond series hence Fast 7 travels trans-continent and builds up the excitement further!
The story line is wafer thin but the plot keeps the audience gripped- what else could? The fast, the furious and a beautiful tribute to a man- who was believed to be immortal, but died at the hands of speed- Fast 7 is surely not ‘one last ride’. It goes farther.
4/5