Review: The Fate of the Furious

"Dominic Toretto just went rogue," Dwayne Johnson's Luke Hobbs declares and, with that, The Fate of the Furious revs up its engines, hardly ever looks back, and establishes itself as one of the best entries in the 16-year-old franchise.

Vin Diesel's Dom Toretto has indeed gone rogue, not only betraying his family, the adrenaline-seeking crew comprised of kickass wife Letty (Michelle Rodriguez), quip-dispensing ladies man Roman (Tyrese Gibson), wisecracking geek Tej (Chris "Ludacris" Bridges), computer hacker Ramsey (Nathalie Emmanuel), and DSS Agent Hobbs, but also actively working against them. Dom is a reluctant traitor, coerced into the employ of long-tressed, lightly dreadlocked cyberterrorist Cipher (Charlize Theron, somewhat reprising her icy ruthlessness from Snow White and the Huntsman), who orders him to steal an EMP bomb, nuclear launch codes, a Russian submarine, and use any means necessary against his crew, who have been dispatched by Mr. Nobody (the delightfully slick Kurt Russell) and his rookie partner (Scott Eastwood, fitting in nicely), dubbed "Nothing," to track and capture their wayward leader.

Also on hand is Jason Statham's Deckard Shaw, the special forces assassin who raised hell against Dom and his crew for bringing down baby brother Owen (Luke Evans) in Furious 7. Though screenwriter Chris Morgan often pretzels the plot contrivances in order to make the general story work, The Fate of the Furious features one of the franchise's strongest narratives. Having Dom be the bad guy is a clever move. For one thing, the emotional stakes are raised. For another, it manages to sideline Diesel without necessarily incapacitating him altogether. The fact of the matter is, though Diesel made the franchise just as much as the franchise made him, he has actually become one of its weakest presences. Separating him from the group allows far more charismatic performers like Johnson and Statham to shine and shine they do.

Johnson was practically missing in action in Furious 7 since his character was meant to be recovering from the wounds sustained in Fast & Furious 6, yet was such an indelible figure even with his limited screen time. With his expanded role in The Fate of the Furious, he all but owns the film and it's no wonder that he and Statham barely share any scenes together with Diesel for they both easily steal focus away. Watching Johnson and Statham together, however, makes one wish they could star in a buddy movie for their antagonistic exchanges and begrudging respect for one another is nothing but pure joy to witness. One of the film's highlights has nothing to do with cars and everything to do with watching these two bulked-up bulletheads withstand muscled inmates and police officers in riot gear as they chase one another through a maximum security prison.

Though its action sequences are solid and often spectacular, they don't come close to topping the action sequences in Furious 7, which were sheer WTF amazingness - a car going from one Abu Dhabi skyscraper to another, Dom driving off a cliff, the late Paul Walker's Brian being whipped over the edge of a cliff as he hangs on to the bumper of Letty's car. Granted, the sight of the team racing over a frozen lake as they evade bombs, heatseekers and a submarine is a pretty memorable one. So is the Manhattan-set sequence in which Cipher immobilises the Russian Defense Minister's heavily guarded car by remote-controlling all the surrounding cars. The shot of about three dozen cars making a hard swerve round the corner is ridiculously nifty as is the sight of cars dropping from the top level of a parking garage and raining onto the street below. Mention must also be made of the highly amusing sequence of Deckard aboard Cipher's plane, throwing down with her men as he protects a baby, happily oblivious to the mayhem around him as well as Helen Mirren's cameo as the Cockney-accented, leopard print-wearing figure who knows that one of the strongest weapons is often a mother's ability to guilt.

The Fate of the Furious

Directed by: F. Gary Gray

Written by: Chris Morgan

Starring: Vin Diesel, Dwayne Johnson, Jason Statham, Michelle Rodriguez, Charlize Theron, Helen Mirren, Kurt Russell, Tyrese Gibson, Chris Bridges, Nathalie Emmanuel, Scott Eastwood, Elsa Pataky, Luke Evans