The Fate of the Furious Review

The Fate of the Furious Review

The Fate of the Furious is the 8th movie in the Fast and Furious franchise. After this movie, I only have 1 more movie in my Fast and Furious review series. This is a fun one for me because it was the first Fast and Furious movie that I ever saw in the theater. So how is this movie? Let’s talk about it! 

The Good: 

This movie continues the insanely entertaining blockbuster formula that started with Fast Five. Where every other line is a joke, or something happening on screen to keep you engaged through-out the run time of the movie. That’s really the big thing about this movie, is that it’s more of what you enjoy from this franchise. 

It’s also a movie with just some really fun and bombastic action set pieces inside of it. Some of the standouts are the prison escape scene, the car chase in New York, or the final battle has a number of great action scenes. The Jason Statham one being in the stand-out and it’s a scene that makes you love Jason Statham on a whole new level. 

And this is one of the funniest of the Fast and Furious movies. Where I mentioned earlier where every other line is supposed to be some funny comment that makes the audience chuckle. Some of the best jokes are the moments between Hobbs and Shaw, Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham have amazon chemistry and then just throwing insults at one another is just a lot of fun to see. And probably a big stepping ground for Hobbs and Shaw being made. But also Roman gets some really fun moments and his moments with Scott Eastwood’s character is some of the best that Roman has ever been in this entire franchise. 

I think this movie also does some really nice things in the finale of the movie. Without going into spoilers, just how they incorporate plot points and character is very well done. To some it might seem illogical that all of the pieces would come together, I didn’t feel that. I was surprised with what happens in the finale of this movie. 

Finally, the villain of the movie, Cipher, is a great addition. Of course when you have a world class actress like Charlize Theron you know you are going to get a great performance. And her character is interesting not because she has this big backstory but because she’s so mysterious and we don’t learn anything about her. And I hope they continue that in F9, and they don’t give her a lot of character development. I think this is a great character where less is better. 

The Bad: 

First thing that comes to mind is there can be some tone issues in the movie. Where this movie is so stupid and ridiculous and having a lot of fun. Where the stuff that happens in the middle with Dom and a returning character (if you’ve seen the movie then you know what I’m talking about) gets a bit too dark. And I don’t think those two things really go together.

Second, the movie feels about 5-10 minutes too long. The movie drags a bit in the middle, but just a little bit. Nothing too big, but I think if they trimmed the middle by a few minutes it could have flowed a bit better.

Finally, I think some of the dynamic of this movie gets lost when Dom turns evil and works with Cipher. Dom is the heart and soul of this franchise, and he’s the glue of this movie. And with him gone, I think a certain element gets lost. Where Luke Hobbs isn’t as much of a leader as Dom is. 

Final Thoughts: In general, I really dig The Fate of the Furious and think it’s a strong point of the franchise. It has a bunch of great action, and the dynamic between Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham. But I think there are a few story issues that hold the movie back a bit. 

The Score: 8.8/10 (B+)