The Fate of the Furious (2017) - Review

The Fate of the Furious (2017) - Review

The Fate of the Furious is the franchise's most ambitious post-Walker entry and the film that attempted to fill the emotional void left by Brian O'Conner's retirement with a storyline of real personal consequence, a work that used Dom's apparent betrayal of his family to create the franchise's most complex arc since the original. F. Gary Gray's 2017 film is not the franchise's finest entry, but as a demonstration of the series' capacity to generate tension from its central relationships, it is a more accomplished and more emotionally intelligent film than its more spectacular elements might suggest.

At a Glance

Director: F. Gary Gray
Runtime: 136 minutes
Starring: Vin Diesel, Dwayne Johnson, Jason Statham, Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, Ludacris, Charlize Theron, Scott Eastwood
Release: 2017
Critics Rating: ★★★ (3/5 stars, ambitious but uneven)
Audience Rating: ★★★ (3/5 stars, entertaining despite its limitations)

Review Breakdown

Plot

Dom is blackmailed by the cyberterrorist Cipher into betraying his family and working against them, while Hobbs and the crew, joined by a released Deckard Shaw, attempt to stop Cipher's plan to steal a nuclear submarine. The rogue Dom premise is the picture's most interesting concept, and the revelation of Cipher's leverage over Dom gives the film its most emotionally significant moment. The submarine chase is the entry's most spectacular set-piece, a demonstration of large-scale action filmmaking of considerable physical ambition. The eventual revelation of Dom's true motivation gives the picture its most satisfying resolution.

Characters

Diesel's Dom is given the franchise's most complex material since the original, a character whose apparent betrayal of his family gives the picture its most genuinely tense dimension and whose eventual revelation gives it its most satisfying resolution. Charlize Theron's Cipher is the franchise's most intellectually formidable villain, a cyberterrorist of personal menace and strategic intelligence whose manipulation of Dom gives the film its most credible threat. Theron plays the character with a cold authority that makes Cipher the franchise's most completely realised female antagonist since the original. Johnson's Hobbs and Statham's Shaw are given their most purely entertaining dynamic, a partnership of comic energy and physical capability that gives the picture its most enjoyable passages. Rodriguez's Letty is given her most significant material since her return, a character whose loyalty to Dom is tested with enough conviction to make her eventual faith in him feel earned.

Tone

Gray pitches the film at a register of spectacular entertainment and tension, giving it a tonal ambition and emotional intelligence that makes it a more accomplished entry than its more purely spectacular elements might suggest. The picture is at its most rewarding in the sequences where Dom's apparent betrayal is most directly felt by the crew, and at its least convincing when the more generic action sequences take precedence over the more interesting character material.

Meaning / Themes

At its core, the film is about family and obligation, about Dom's loyalty to his crew and his obligation to protect his son, a meditation on the nature of family and the lengths to which a parent will go to protect their child that gives the franchise's central value its most personally consequential expression.

Direction

Gray's direction is technically accomplished and assured, with a command of the large-scale action sequences and a feel for developing the franchise's central relationships in the absence of its most significant creative element. The submarine chase is the film's directorial highlight, a demonstration of large-scale action filmmaking of considerable physical ambition.

Cultural Reception

The Fate of the Furious was a major commercial success on its release, becoming one of the highest-grossing films in cinema history and confirming the franchise's continued box office viability without Walker. Critical reception was warm if not enthusiastic, with most reviewers acknowledging the ambition of the rogue Dom premise while noting the film's more uneven elements. Theron's Cipher is now widely regarded as the franchise's most intellectually formidable villain.

Who Should Watch

Essential viewing for franchise fans as the first post-Walker entry and as the introduction of Cipher. Those who approach it as ambitious action entertainment will find a more rewarding film than its more spectacular elements might suggest.

Final Verdict: The franchise's most ambitious post-Walker entry. Dom's apparent betrayal gives the picture real tension, Theron's Cipher is the franchise's most intellectually formidable villain, and the Hobbs and Shaw dynamic gives the film its most purely entertaining passages. The Fate of the Furious is a more accomplished and emotionally intelligent film than its reputation suggests.

The Fast and the Furious Series

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