The Fate of the Furious Feels Like the Beginning of the End for the Franchise

I’ve been an unapologetic supporter of the Fast and Furious franchise, despite the fact that several of the movies are quite bad. They are fun, fast-paced action flicks. Nothing more, nothing less.

I thought the seventh installment of the franchise should have been the final one. Furious Seven was a perfect way to end the franchise; a tearful goodbye to Paul Walker, who helped launch the franchise in 2001.

That’s not how things work in Hollywood, however, and as much of a cash-cow as Furious Seven, and the franchise as a whole has been, they weren’t, and aren’t, going to stop making them as long as they are netting over $100 million domestically during the opening weekend. I mean, Fate of the Furious had the best worldwide opening weekend EVER, beating out The Force Awakens, thanks  mostly due to the $190 million it made opening weekend in China.

I was disappointed they decided to make an eighth film, but became a bit more optimistic when F. Gary Gray was signed on to direct, fresh off his smashing directorial success of Straight Outta Compton in 2015.

The trailer didn’t do much to continue my optimism however, as they turned Vin Diesel’s Dom into the main antagonist, having the ultimate family man turn his back on his own.

I contemplated skipping this one altogether, but decided I had to see it after having seen all seven of the other films in the franchise.

This installment feels like the beginning of the end, with F. Gary Gray having just enough stamina to hold it together and keep the wheels from falling off. That feels inevitable now, though, with at least two more films coming in the next four years.

It felt like a metaphor for the series when Dom’s team hitched numerous cables from their vehicles to Dom’s car in an attempt to subdue him, with Dom fighting as hard as he could to hold it together, and eventually, as hard as he fought, even breaking loose from several of the cables, the wheels still came off right from under him.

Gray and others involved with the Fast and Furious franchise seemed to have one final trick up their sleeves with the movie’s big reveal as to why Dom chose to work with Charlize Theron’s Cipher, as ridiculous as that twist wound up being.

The Fate of the Furious has all the over-the-top action we’ve come to know and love from the franchise, even if it even became a bit too over-the-top, even for these movies with the ridiculous stunts that were performed on ice.

The final action sequence is completely ridiculous, and the how of Dom’s crew saving the world from nuclear war (yes, NUCLEAR WAR) made absolutely zero sense. (Spoiler: They all voted for Hillary.)

The franchise has long been about redemption, from Brian’s initial redemption in Dom’s eyes at the end of the first movie, to Dom’s redemption from a life of crime to actually becoming a full-on secret weapon for the government. The Shaw brothers get their redemptive arc in this film, and I fully expect Charlize Theron’s Cipher to get her redemption in the next film as she joins Dom’s team as they battle…...Isis? Yes, Isis.

There are several drawbacks to this particular film, but it is still mostly satisfying for those hardcore supporters of the series, even if it is undoubtedly their worst offering in eight years.

Those who haven’t been entranced by the franchise since the beginning need not waste their money.

It’s difficult to imagine where the series heads from here, though. Everyone seemed to be struggling as much as possible to hang onto the wheel as the car began spinning out of control, and I’m not sure there’s any way of keeping it out of the ditch.

Grade: C