Review: Fast & Furious 7 (2015)

Cars fly and worldwide destruction ensues in Fast & Furious 7, yet the distinct – and increasing – cracks under the bonnet are hard to contest. Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel), Brian O’Connor (Paul Walker) and their crew are forced out of retirement and into a cat-and-mouse chase when Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham) seeks revenge for his brother’s hospitalisation. Fast & Furious 7’s action sequences have been ramped up to ludicrous heights, but the plot remains makeshift and muddled. There’s no real threat (Shaw feels more like a caricature than a real, fleshed out villain) and the scenarios become tiresome and repetitive the longer the film drags on. Flashes of inescapable pleasure are scattered here and there, most of which are too quickly drowned out by frenzied camera moves and botched editing. It ends nicely though, with a surprisingly apt tribute to the late Walker, who died halfway through production, sending Fast & Furious 7 out on the high it doesn’t quite warrant.