The Fast and the Furious Franchise returns to theaters with its 8th installment, Fate of the Furious, and while lacking a key component in Paul Walker's Brian O' Connor it still manages to be a fun filled, action packed ride.
With Dom and Letty married, Brian and Mia retired and the rest of the crew exonerated, the globe-trotting team has found some semblance of a normal life. They soon face an unexpected challenge when a mysterious woman named Cipher forces Dom to betray them all. Now, they must unite to bring home the man who made them a family and stop Cipher from unleashing chaos.
Say what you want about Vin Diesel, but when he fully commits to a performance he delivers in spades and Dominic Toretto is one of those performances. Vin is now the glue that holds the 'Fast' ship together since the death of Paul Walker and he shows now signs of faltering in this role. This time around he hits a range of emotions that he hasn't hit since Man Apart and a quality performance that's reminiscent of Find Me Guilty. The entire cast fires on all cylinders and gives great performances, but this movie's focus is almost entirely on Toretto with a slight detour to Statham's character.
Jason Statham's Ian Shaw should not have worked as an addition to the team, yet somehow it works and it works beautifully. Shaw doesn't do a full 180 from bad to good, he goes more like bad to bad with a purpose. He's more of an anti-hero and is best likened to The Punisher. His character shows that good and bad are simply perspective and anyone, even Toretto, will do evil for the greater good.
Charlize Theron is the villain this time around and looks fantastic on the screen, but doesn't commit to the part fully. She has definitely given better performances in her amazing career but this one just middles, never quite hitting its potential. Still a decent villain, just not a great one.
Fate of the Furious does have a glaring weak spot, thought, in Scott Eastwood. His character feels tacked on simply to fill the void left by Paul Walker and his lines fall a bit flat. Hopefully he finds his stride by the next installment because he is the legacy of one of the greatest actors of all time and to see him not live up to that potential would be tragic.
Fate hits all notes that we have come to expect from this franchise and even surprises with a few new ones. If you enjoyed any of the previous installments than there is no reason for you to miss this one.
Rating: 9/10 Stars
Rich Stile @TheDevilsEyes1