The Fate of the Furious is a perfectly fine entry into the now long-running franchise that doesn’t really show signs of slowing down. The action scenes are well done and although none of the acting, or dialogue for that matter, will impress, I still found myself relatively entertained.
The Fate of the Furious
(2017)
Genre(s): Action, Thriller
Universal | PG13 – 136 min. – $44.98 | July 11, 2017
Date Published: 07/10/2017 | Author: The Movieman
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THE MOVIE — 3.25/5 |
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If you had asked me 13 years ago, following Tokyo Drift, the Fast and the Furious franchise would still be going strong, I’d say you’d be crazy. But here we are in 2017 with The Fate of the Furious, the eighth entry into the series and although it’s hardly the best, nor does it reach anywhere near the emotional levels of Furious 7, there is some entertainment value amongst the insanity and craziness. This globe-trotting action-adventure opens in Havana with Dominic Toretto (VIN DIESEL) enjoying his honeymoon with wife Letty (MICHELLE RODRIGUEZ) and being a Toretto, he’s gots to race, helping his cousin out of a jam with a local big shot named Raldo (CELESTINO CORNIELLE), using the cousin’s POS car and manages to win the race, earn the respect of Raldo. All’s well, right? Not so much when he’s approached in the street by a woman later revealed as cyber terrorist Cipher (CHARLIZE THERON), showing Dom a video for which he will betray his ‘family’, the common theme with this sequels and goes strong this time around as well. When the U.S. government enlists Hobbs (DWAYNE JOHNSON) to, off the books, retrieve an EMP weapon capable to wipe out power from city grids, he gathers the old crew together and we get the heist midway through amongst massive explosions set by the wise-cracking Roman (TYRESE GIBSON), a wrecking ball deployed by Tej (LUDACRIS) taking out generic baddies’ vehicles and other mayhem. Things are going to plan… until Dom goes rogue, taking out Hobbs’ car and making a getaway from his car onto a moving jet. With the job going sideways, the team make the top 10 most wanted (well, Roman was #11) and Hobbs is sent off to prison, turning down an offer for release by Mr. Nobody (KURT RUSSELL) and his associate Little Nobody (SCOTT EASTWOOD), alongside his old nemesis, Deckard Shaw (JASON STATHAM). Though the pair don’t stay locked up very long with an escape orchestrated by Nobody. Mr. Nobody has rounded by the crew as it’s felt they are the only ones that can find and capture Dom and Cipher. But with Cipher being one step ahead, and holding a special somebody on her aerial headquarters, the job will be tough, even impossible. With the cast, they all settle in their roles better than ever with Tyrese serving as comic relief filled with one-liners; Ludacris and Nathalie Emmanuel doing movie hacker type shit; Hobbs looking massive and kicking all sorts of ass; Jason Statham’s Deckard gets a personality change going from villain to anti-hero to full on hero and probably was the highlight of them all even with limited screen time; and Vin Diesel being all Vin Diesel-y and a reminder of a classic 1980s action star with a few more hero shots. There are only two major new additions to the cast: Charlize Theron serves as a nice and icy foil to the crew as Cipher, a character set up in Furious 7 though changed from an organization to individual person because, why not? And Scott Eastwood who I suppose is the white boy replacing the late Paul Walker and his character has similar personality to boot, at least how the Brian character began the series anyway. The Fate of the Furious might not hold quite the same emotional impact as Furious 7, and how could it, and even though I wasn’t as wild about this entry compared with the others (probably on par with Fast and Furious which I know many consider the weakest one), but there is still entertainment value in its insanity, particularly the finale which, as seen in almost every trailer, involved a frickin’ submarine barreling through ice causing massive havoc and destruction. This may not be the strongest of the series, but I do like the world-building Chris Morgan and company have done, though with so much retconning, I am curious to see how or if Deckard receives punishment for, ya know, killing Han. |
SPECIAL FEATURES – 3.75/5 |
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This release comes with a semi-glossy, title-embossed, slip cover. Inside are separate redemption codes for both the theatrical and director’s cut Digital HD Copies. Why Universal chose to only have this new cut in digital only is perplexing. And as someone who doesn’t like or support digital releases, I have not and will not be watching this cut… Audio Commentary – Director F. Gary Gray provides a low key yet still informative enough commentary staying on track giving tid-bits on shooting in the various locations, working with the cast and coming into the series. There are several featurettes, totaling ~69 minutes, each introduced by a member of the cast and director Gray.
Last up there are two Extended Fight Scenes (5:03; HD). |
4K VIDEO – 5.0/5, BD VIDEO – 5.0/5
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| The Fate of the Furious races onto the 4K format presented in its original 2.40 widescreen aspect ratio and given a 2160p ultra high-definition and looks incredible with bright/brilliant colors and clear, sharp detail throughout. Just based on my memory seeing it in theater, this more or less matches what I saw on the big screen. This is clean, free of any signs of artifacts, banding or other flaws. The 1080p high-def Blu-ray is pretty much perfect as well and doing a quick comparison, it might not have as brilliant colors, it’s still mightily impressive nonetheless. |
AUDIO – 5.0/5 |
| Both the 4K and Blu-ray comes with a, somewhat rare, DTS: X track which for a movie like this, does take full advantage of. Obviously being a newer high-budget movie, the sound design is going to be top notch and this goes for dialogue which comes through the center channel with ambient noises making use of the front speakers; but where the depth really shows is during the numerous action scenes from the opening race sequence to the finale on ice, each of these sound amazing and for that extra boost, the LFE kicks in. |
OVERALL – 3.5/5 |
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Overall, The Fate of the Furious is a perfectly fine entry into the now long-running franchise that doesn’t really show signs of slowing down. The action scenes are well done and although none of the acting, or dialogue for that matter, will impress, I still found myself relatively entertained. This 4K release by Universal offers up excellent video and audio transfers (for both 4K and Blu-ray) and the features aren’t anything noteworthy but still alright. |