Fate of the Furious

"Why are they shooting at me?"

"I don't know. Maybe because you're in an orange Lamborghini!"

Dominic Toretto (Diesel) and his team are living normal lives. One day he is approached by a hacker named Cipher (Theron), who forces him to turn against his team and work for her.

Meanwhile, DSS agent Luke Hobbs (Johnson) is given an off-the-books assignment. If he fails, he will go to prison. He needs to put together a team that he trusts, so he calls Dom for help. Dom, Letty (Rodriguez), Roman (Gibson), Tej (Bridges), and Ramsey (Emmanuel) go to Berlin for the heist. They are shocked and devastated when Dom betrays them.

Mr. Nobody (Russell) and his junior agent, Little Nobody (Eadtwood) break Hobbs and Deckhard Shaw (Statham) out of prison. They reluctantly team up to find Dom and Cipher. Can the team take down one of their own?

This is the eighth film in the Fast and Furious franchise, following: The Fast and the Furious (2001), 2 Fast 2 Furious (2003), The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006), Fast and Furious (2009), Fast Five (2011), Fast and Furious 6 (2013), and Furious 7 (2015). To date there are 2 subsequent films: F9 (2021) and Fast X (2023).

The Good:

This is director F. Gary Gray's first (and, to date, only) entry in the Fast and Furious franchise. Chris Morgan returned as the writer.

Jason Statham on the plane with the baby. Any interaction between Statham and Dwayne Johnson is great, good chemistry and the fights feel evenly matched.

Helen Mirren. Mirren wanted to be a part of the franchise, in any. And she makes an impact with her limited screen time. 

The Bad:

I know I shouldn't expect realism here, but the zombie cars and the submarine/torpedoes were ridiculous. Memorable, but ridiculous.

Other Comments:

-The stakes feel bigger with this film. Once again it is about fast cars and crazy stunts, but the villain isn't messing around. Charlize is a stone-cold villain that is easy to hate.

-Includes brief cameos from previous characters from the franchise 

-The ice race was memorable. 

-Audiences liked the teamup of Johnson's Hobbs and Stratham's Shaw, and they were given a spin-off film.

The Fate of the Furious (2017) 136 minutes

Rating: PG-13 for prolonged sequences of violence and destruction, suggestive content, and language

Director: F. Gary Gray

Starring: Vin Diesel as Dominic Toretto

Dwayne Johnson as Luke Hobbs

Jason Statham as Deckard Shaw

Michelle Rodriguez as Letty Ortiz

Tyrese Gibson as Roman Pearce

Chris "Ludacris" Bridges as Tej Parker

Scott Eastwood as Little Nobody

Nathalie Emmanuel as Ramsey

Elsa Pataky as Elena Neves

Kurt Russell as Mr. Nobody

Charlize Theron as Cipher

Kristofer Hivju as Connor Rhodes