The Fate of the Furious (2017) Movie Review

Synopsis:

A mysterious woman named Cipher (Charlize Theron) turns Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) against his team. Whilst finding out why, Agent Luke Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) and the team must also stop Cipher from causing more disruption.

Review:

As with the previous installment, The Fate of the Furious is now helmed by a different director - F. Gary Gray.

The Fate of the Furious stumbles on many occasions due to the new concept it introduces. Despite this, it does get some credit for being more ambitious.

This film makes it clear that franchise mainstay Dominic Toretto turns rogue. For context, this was also shown in the trailers.

Although fans may appreciate this new approach, the film's execution of it is weak.

Charlize Theron’s Cipher appears out of nowhere and convinces Dom to turn against his crew. This is more a case of plot convenience than anything else.

Whilst the reason behind Dom’s decision is soon revealed, it should have been clear from the outset.

This would have established a clear motive, maintaining the audience's interest throughout.

Charlize Theron’s portrayal of Cipher also contributes to The Fate of the Furious’ uneven plot structure.

Whilst Theron’s performance is above average, all she does is either whisper or shout.

Aside from these basic traits, Charlize isn’t provided with more range otherwise.

For franchise fans, Vin Diesel as Dominic Toretto provides similar doses of his grizzled exterior.

As expected, Dom doesn’t remain an antagonist for the film’s entire duration. He soon returns to protect his “family”.

On the flip side, the film finds enough entertainment in its characters.

These include Dwayne Johnson’s Luke Hobbs and Jason Statham’s Deckard Shaw.

This is best displayed in a scene where both characters are in the same prison.

Both actors appear to be enjoying themselves. This is despite Dwayne portraying his real-life persona at this point.

Their insults soon culminate in an outrageous action sequence.

This involves Hobbs using his brute strength and power. Also, Shaw displays his precision and agility.

Although the scene is beyond nonsensical, it does provide entertainment.

Where The Fate of the Furious can lose focus is when it dials up the action beyond disbelief.

As an example, take the sequence involving a nuclear submarine during the film’s climax.

Laws of physics are once again thrown out of the window or under the ice in this film’s case.

Once the submarine's in action, Dwayne Johnson’s Hobbs is pushing giant missiles on ice.

Also, Tyrese Gibson’s Roman Pearce drives an orange Lamborghini.

Roman’s friend Tej Parker (Chris “Ludacris” Bridges) is also in tow. This film’s action in this sequence, and in general, is good.

Despite this, fans may not be able to suspend their belief any further at this point in the franchise.

Michelle Rodriguez returns as Letty Ortiz and Nathalie Emmanuel as Ramsey. This film also reintroduces Kurt Russell's Mr Nobody.

The Fate of the Furious’s visuals focus on the action and location shots.

F. Gary Gray's approach to visuals doesn’t bring as many changes as James Wan’s previous entry. Despite this, they are still good.

Once again, Brian Tyler helms this film’s score. With it, he brings moments of entertainment during the action sequences.

Despite some good moments, Brian doesn’t innovate much in this entry. For the most part, he reuses tracks from previous films.

Conclusion:

To conclude, director F. Gary Gray’s The Fate of the Furious has ambition yet falters in its execution.

This is evident during the film’s plot, as audiences aren’t given a reason behind Dom’s actions until later in the film.

Whilst the reason behind his actions is soon revealed, reaching that point can be a task in and of itself.

This also applies to Charlize Theron’s Cipher. Despite Charlize giving an above-average performance, her character has clunky dialogue.

Where characters do improve somewhat is with Dwayne Johnson’s Hobbs and Jason Statham’s Shaw.

Most of the dialogue between them is improvisation. Regardless, both actors seem to be enjoying themselves.

Fans shouldn’t expect any drastic character development for Vin Diesel's Dominic Toretto.

Still, despite the usual family motto with Dom, Vin Diesel’s performance is decent enough.

With the film’s visuals, F. Gary Gray gives audiences the standard approach. These include his location and action shots.

As with other entries, The Fate of the Furious’s visuals are good, yet don’t offer anything more than this.

Brian Tyler's soundtrack and original score should also be familiar to franchise fans.

As a whole, Tyler's returning tracks are good. Despite this, he needed to expand beyond this to make his score stand out more.

As a whole, this film has its fun moments. This is despite its missed opportunities to improve the music score. It also has some absurd action sequences.

It also has a scattered story. The Fate of the Furious should provide enough entertainment if long-time fans are willing to ignore its shortcomings.

Sam’s Action Reaction score:

Characters - 7/10

Story - 6/10

Action - 7/10

Visuals - 7/10

Soundtrack - 6.5/10

Overall score: 6.7 out of 10