The Fate of the Furious

The quality of the Fast and Furious movies can be assessed, for example, according to which you remember. The first one is memorable because it was relatively cheap, down-to-earth and original. Everyone remembers the fifth one because it brought a proper boost and a leap up in quality, plus a lot of great directorial ideas and audience draws (The Rock, etc.). The rest blends together with only the really great highlights being memorable, whether good or not. The eighth episode is no different and thus falls into the category of nothing exceptional. None of the action scenes are really climactic (CGI mess doesn't automatically mean awesome), Charlize Theron, Jason Statham and co. are fine, but with that kind of acting potential to piss on cars in two or three scenes, get run over by a submarine and that’s it? Where are the full contact fights like The Rock vs Diesel, or Rodriguez vs Carano? Those were the highlights in the action, this one has nothing of the sort. All the flashy gimmicks don't cover up the lack of creative ideas, and the 250 million dollar visuals aren't going to make this a macho action ride. The family feeling continues, okay, the main characters are old enough for that, but the best scenes are not the action ones, and that’s not quite okey. (13/04/2017)

But... ummm... Why not. It's soulless, but it's fun, although more than Vin Diesel and his family (put aside five crowns every time that word comes up and you have enough for a movie ticket) benefits from Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham (I understand why they earned their own film), from Charlize Theron, and especially from the sympathetically excessive action, in which cars behave like wild animals and you wait for them to turn into Transformers, and when a submarine joins the final chase, it's actually not inappropriate at all. (30/06/2021)

This series has become my heart's delight, and it's very likely that I won't rate any future installments differently than 100%. For me, this is just a fantastic group that I'm happy to return to. There are emotions in it, it's entertaining, and damn, it's awesome in terms of special effects. The action ideas are so wonderfully crazy that they make me purr with delight. (24/04/2017)

The more obvious the complexity of the plot twists in which the gang has been throwing itself five installments in a row, the greater my excitement for the resulting film. Just a while ago, I was worried that there was nowhere to go, nowhere to build expectations, and nowhere for the characters to go. However, for a long time now, I have seen that none of this is necessary. Vin Diesel, from the position of the main face, incorporates all conceivable fan wishes into the scripts, including the dream (and surprisingly perfect) portrayal of the main antagonist. In the slower passages, he murmurs several phrases on the theme of "My Family" with an incomprehensible bass voice, and at the same time, he manages to come up with a surprise that no one expects (this time it is that stealer of scenes, Jason Statham). Various criticisms of physics or logic have never been more pointless. This saga operates in its own universe, and I will be happy if it continues at similar two-year intervals for a long time. (18/05/2017)

Being the screenwriter of a billion-dollar franchise must be a bitch. Sniffing cocaine out of the asses of L.A.'s top prostitutes and knowing that no matter how much shit you do on paper, you'll get away with it and someone will actually film it eventually. Don't be fooled by the perfect production glitz because this is Hollywood sludge that lacks even a shred of judgment. I don't mind the overblown action orgy, where stuntmen go all out and everything is tuned by special effects artists who were paid handsomely for their overtime. It bothers me that it flies around the world without anchoring itself in the plot, that so many Deus ex machina enter the plot, and that even the zombie is supposed to be excused by the fact that family is the most important thing. It’s overpriced kitsch that does not caricature the trend set by the fifth film in the series but instead degrades it. (18/07/2017)