F8 picks up with an opening scene that calls back to the good ol’ days of Fast & Furious (circa 2001-2006), complete with trash talking, street racing and a tropical pop hit setting the scene. Dom (Vin Diesel) has settled down in Havana with Letty (Michelle Rodriguez), but it isn’t long before he’s dragged back into the increasingly explosive life he’s lived for the past 16 years. What sets this entry apart from its seven predecessors, is that this time Dom’s playing for the wrong team, and betraying the family he loves. Gasp!
But Dom isn’t just suddenly evil for no reason. Instead, he is forcefully coerced into working for Cipher (Charlize Theron), a menacing cyber terrorist with big plans for starting a nuclear war between the biggest nations in the world. So, they of course assemble the team to stop Cipher and figure out why Dom has gone rogue. The ever-expanding ensemble cast includes all your favorites: Letty, Hobbs (Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson), Roman (Tyrese Gibson), Tej (Chris “Ludacris” Bridges), Ramsey (Nathalie Emmanuel), Mr. Nobody (Kurt Russell) and his new partner Little Nobody (Scott Eastwood) as well as Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham), whose stint as a villain has concluded now that he’s working alongside our heroes.
The Fate of the Furious solidifies the series as being its own brand of superhero movies, with characters who may as well have superhuman abilities and storylines that feature world-ending scenarios. Almost everything that occurs here is absolutely absurd, but it’s so much fun to watch that you don’t even think about it. At this point, if the series doesn’t go to space or crossover with The Avengers or Transformers, then I don’t know how they’ll be able to keep up with the pace they’ve set for themselves.
The Fate of the Furious is an absolute spectacle to watch and I immensely enjoyed most of what it had to offer, although that’s not to say it doesn’t have any faults. And while I loved F8, it isn’t likely to convert anyone into a fan if they weren’t already. However, if you have followed the series for any amount of time and have enjoyed any of the more recent entries, then I can almost guarantee that you’ll have a great time with this one.
— Michael Lane, Blog Editor
