Furious Seven (James Wan)

[Henry Gale]

IMDb / Wiki

[Henry Gale]

It's.... *sniffle*.. everything I could've asked for...

(Except for some grievances that I'll just delay talking about for the time being to let the ridiculously beautiful and beautifully ridiculous moments stand out most in my mind.)

Whatever part of me that would like to say I am being somewhat ironic with my love for this and the excitement it left me with, is honestly undone by just how unabashedly and knowingly over-the-top the movie is, the fact that I got to see this screening on my birthday with one of my oldest and best friends who I remember watching the earliest of the franchise over a decade ago, laughing our asses off with this one just as much as we did back then, and that combination of things really make for a perfect night out at the movies.

But what an insane series this has become. Going to revel in re-watching all of them 'til the next, which if they don't start filming tomorrow is already way too far off in the future.

[Watashi]

This series has turned into a Saturday Morning Cartoon, and what a glorious cartoon it is.

[Henry Gale]

$143 million opening weekend.




Too low.

[Ivan Drago]

This movie is everything I hoped it would be.

[number8]

I have to admit I felt it got a bit too over the top, and that it had too much gunfight scenes. Still a lot of fun and I realized that I unabashedly love these characters (half of my party straight up cried at the end, I almost teared up myself), even though I had plenty of gripes with the way Wan shoots action scenes. He really wasted Tony Jaa.

[Henry Gale]

I have to admit I felt it got a bit too over the top, and that it had too much gunfight scenes. Still a lot of fun and I realized that I unabashedly love these characters (half of my party straight up cried at the end, I almost teared up myself), even though I had plenty of gripes with the way Wan shoots action scenes. He really wasted Tony Jaa.

Yeah, I can't really disagree with any of that. But like Wats said, it really has become an impenetrably fun cartoon-physics machine with this late trilogy to let the issues I do have drag my enjoyment down very much at all, especially since 5, 6 and now 7 managed to figure out how to strengthen everything else about themselves in the meantime too.

Lin definitely had a stronger mind's eye with the camera with his installments, but Wan definitely has his own energy that you feel differently right off the bat -- for better or worse -- with the opening credits hospital scene. Maybe it was just the IMAX sound bulking up the intensity of the hits in the hand-to-hand scenes, but I thought he captured a good sense of the action in that visceral sense, regardless of how efficiently he may have framed, blocked and focused them at any given moment. The Rodriguez/Rousey fight has left the least impression of the bunch, and I agree Jaa could've been employed soooo much better (though his final showdown was definitely hindered by the passing of Walker and the eventual need for heavy stand-in usage), but I just think it's a common pity that the series doesn't know quite how to make the most of the abilities of performers like him or The Raid's Joe Taslim, whose role I remember similar disappointment in Furious 6.

Wan definitely has a looser grip on the reality of things, the CG seems more visible than usual, and his indulgences in the sillier cultural influenced "sick EDM party(!!) / slo-mo butt-shot / Turn Down For What!" aspects of things feels more amateurish than they should, almost as if the series had managed quietly grow up otherwise when I didn't quite paying attention for me to suddenly expect better. But Wan has never been particularly self-conscious or all that perfect a craftsman even at his best, which is a combination that allows for the insane rough edges of his ideas to stay intact and see their way to the final product both in his past work and here. The last thing I want to see is a film of his where I'm not questioning how serious he is with something he's putting on screen.

In terms of the emotional punch of the ending, did anyone else feel that it would've been exponentially more effective if [

Show Spoiler

they'd ended it with Brian (but basically just unabashedly Walker at that point, questionable-looking CG and all) pulling up to Dom and, asking if he really thought he'd get away without saying goodbye, and fading out right with them driving off? I feel like the only reason I didn't completely crack tear-wise was the Wiz Khalifa-scored montage that got in the way of that. Obviously the films and the cast and crew deserved to give a tribute of the stature they did, but it just felt like a little too much. (Not that this series has never really known any other mode.)

]

[number8]

Nothing deflates me more than seeing an athlete's impressive feats be neutered by fancy camerawork. When Jaa is scaling over fences and construction material, and the camera goes into slo-mo and glides up and down with him, it just dulls his show of agility. Similarly when the camera rotates to its side to follow Jaa scaling a wall upside down.

[D_Davis]

Is the the West's answer to the Young and Dangerous series?

[DavidSeven]

I went into this prepared to give it all kinds of leeway, but this move is just too ridiculous at times. Like 8, I have a huge problem with Wan's action direction. At least a quarter of it must have been shot in close-up shaky cam. I know it's becoming in vogue to appreciate this series as a whole in the ironic hipster way people enjoy something like Torque, but, in my opinion, that is a disservice to the installments that are actually well-made. Fast Five is legitimately one of the best directed action movies ever. Furious 7 is nowhere near that class of movie.

You have Tony Jaa, the Rock, Statham and Rousey, and yet, you couldn't convince me that a single punch was thrown in a wide angle. To have that kind of physical talent and then shoot everything through indecipherable close-ups, rapid cuts and gimmick shots is unforgivable. What a waste.

In spite of Wan's poor touch for action, I did enjoy the movie quite a bit. At the same time, I have a feeling a lot of that has to do with six movies of character-work that pre-date Wan's involvement. I will, however, say that the film's finale did move me and that arc was really handled about as well as you could hope.

[TGM]

Oh man, this series is out of control. This movie is completely fucking bonkers, lol. That was a very nice sendoff they did for Paul Walker at the end, though. Very respectfully handled.

[number8]

Doing the marathon really made me appreciate how underrated Lin's slick directing is. I always remembered 4 being a weak entry, but I think at the time I was just not impressed by the story it was telling as a standalone movie. However, watching it as a series, and seeing how it sets up the mythology and character work for later films, I was able to look past the story gripes and really just appreciate the character interactions and action. I now believe that the GPS race in 4 where Dom and Brian compete to be Braga's driver is the best racing scene in the entire series. Just immaculately cut; frenetic but always very clear on where the cars are in relation to each other, even though it's a night time scene. I cannot say the same about the predator drone chase in this one, which was frustratingly hazy on the geography.

It was actually really sad... Several times during the car scenes in 7, I was thinking, "Wow, that was a really cool stunt, I wish I could see how Justin Lin would have shot that."

[TGM]

Whatever part of me that would like to say I am being somewhat ironic with my love for this and the excitement it left me with, is honestly undone by just how unabashedly and knowingly over-the-top the movie is.

[

Show Spoiler

Yup, and I actually kinda loved how they even included a scene just to emphasize how zany things have gotten, when Paul Walker's character says that he's "going old school", then proceeds to drive underneath a truck, alluding to when THAT was as over-the-top as it got in the first entry. Shit, that's freaking tame now, lol!

]

[Rowland]

This is amusing enough as a whole, but it's inferior to the last two Lin entries, and frankly, I expected better from Wan; it turns into a bit of a slog after the Etihad towers sequence, the home stretch comprised of poorly shot/edited action scenes and ghoulishly shot/edited scenes featuring "Paul Walker."

Furious 7 < Torque

[number8]

Wait, can we really say that people are enjoying Torque in an ironic way if it's exactly what the filmmakers intended? Or are we just saying that satire as a whole is typically enjoyed by its audience ironically? That's actually an interesting question...

[Skitch]

Wait, can we really say that people are enjoying Torque in an ironic way if it's exactly what the filmmakers intended? Or are we just saying that satire as a whole is typically enjoyed by its audience ironically? That's actually an interesting question...

Hmmmm...that is a great question. Whatever the answer is, nothing will ever stop me enjoying that joyous disaster.

[number8]

75% of Furious 7's record breaking North American box office were non-white, which is a staggering anomaly.

49% were female, which is pretty standard for big blockbusters these days (especially Marvel movies), but I think it also reflects how these movies' treatment of the female characters betray the straight-male-centric reputation created by the buttshot B-rolls. I remember liking how the gratuitous shot of Nathalie Emmanuel in a bikini that is used to sell the movie in the trailers is commented on in the movie itself.

Anecdotally speaking, more women showed up to my marathon party than men, even though I invited about an equal divide. Seven people came with me to see Furious 7, and five of them were women.

[Morris Schæffer]

Wait, can we really say that people are enjoying Torque in an ironic way if it's exactly what the filmmakers intended? Or are we just saying that satire as a whole is typically enjoyed by its audience ironically? That's actually an interesting question...

Are you saying that if Michael Bay's next movie is called 'Horse Shit' and actually features copious amounts of the brown stuff detonated and shot in slow-mo, we should all be able to enjoy it?

[number8]

Are you saying that if Michael Bay's next movie is called 'Horse Shit' and actually features copious amounts of the brown stuff detonated and shot in slow-mo, we should all be able to enjoy it?

....What?

EDIT: Oh I get it. No, I'm asking if laughing and enjoying a parody counts as enjoying something ironically. Is there an ironic distance if we say that Hot Fuzz's aping of Michael Bay and Tony Scott's styles is funny? Or are we just enjoying it as intended?

[Dukefrukem]

How do we know what intent is though? Did the filmmakers of Torque honestly set out to make the most ironic bike fight ever? Or was that just something they thought would look cool?

I mean, this alone is crazy

[number8]

Yes, Joseph Kahn has repeatedly said he made it to be a parody of The Fast and the Furious. The main character even quotes Vin Diesel.

[Dukefrukem]

Just read that in the wiki. News to me.

[Morris Schæffer]

....What?

EDIT: Oh I get it. No, I'm asking if laughing and enjoying a parody counts as enjoying something ironically. Is there an ironic distance if we say that Hot Fuzz's aping of Michael Bay and Tony Scott's styles is funny? Or are we just enjoying it as intended?

nick angel repeatedly smashing his horn popeye doyle-style during a chase wouldn't be funny unless one is able to recollect similar moments from straight action movies. Similarly, nick angel describing a movie as a'rootin tootin, slambang, barnestormin action extravaganza wouldn't be funny if one has no idea that such a quote could have come from a plethora of high profile movie critics.

edit: speaking strictly about visual style though, the chopper slowmo in hot fuzz was funny, the final chase in Torque, and I'm only guessing it was a chase, was not because it was bad period i suppose. it makes a mockery of two helmers, bay and scott, who can usually be relied upon to at least provide exciting action scenes, mostly sans the memorable characters though.

[DavidSeven]

What if you don't really enjoy or notice the intended satirical elements of Torque and enjoy it instead as a testosterone pumpin' thrill ride?! That is some next-level ironic enjoyment.

Seriously, though, the intentions behind something like Hot Fuzz seem to be more at the surface. I haven't seen it, but if Shaun of the Dead is any indication, it likely has respectable film-making elements as well. Wright can write and direct. His films have genuine emotion and interesting characters. His actors are competent and deliver convincing performances amid the lampooning. For me, Kahn saying he intentionally messed up continuity and had his actors misplay their roles is a bit too much. Even if I bought it, I'd find the satire a little vapid and off-the-mark. Plus, the dude has been pumping out big, dumb consumer-friendly music videos for the last two decades. So, it strikes me as odd that he'd want to make fun of The Fast and The Furious of all things. The man directed The Thong Song with a straight face for chrissakes.

[Winston*]

Yes, Joseph Kahn has repeatedly said he made it to be a parody of The Fast and the Furious. The main character even quotes Vin Diesel.

I remember hearing Adam Scott on something saying that half the cast thought they were making a parody and the other half thought they were making a straight up bad-ass Fast and the Furious style movie.