FAST & FURIOUS: A Retrospective

In anticipation of seeing Furious 7 the other night I decided to re-watch some of the earlier Fast & Furious films I hadn't seen in a while in order to simply refresh my memory. Given Fast Five and Fast & Furious 6 have been released within the last few years and that I actually have reviews for them posted on this site I didn't bother going back and giving them another look (don't worry though, they've been seen multiple times over the last few years), but instead watched the original The Fast and the Furious, 2 Fast 2 Furious, Tokyo Drift and Fast & Furious. Within each of these is something to marvel at; no matter it be how far the franchise has come from its humble beginnings, how much of the current films can actually be seen in the DNA of the 2001 original or even how things that happened in the past could possibly come back around to inform what other films may come after Furious 7. Where the franchise will go from here is one of the most interesting questions given Paul Walker's Brian O'Conner will no longer be a part of the series and prior to this has only been absent from the prequel/alternate storyline Tokyo Drift. While there are certainly plans for an eighth film (and probably a ninth and tenth if things go Universal's way) I can only hope that Diesel and screenwriter Chris Morgan continue to both bring back series stars like Lucas Black, Bow Wow, Eva Mendes and Cole Hauser and expand their international cast to include the likes of an already pining Helen Mirren. Before we look too far into the future though, I'd like to take a trip back through the first four Fast films I haven't previously written about on this site, so without further adieu...

FURIOUS 7 Review

At this point, if you're into what the Fast & Furious films are doing then you're completely into it. There is no way out if you've come this far and I can't imagine anyone having a problem with that if you indeed have. At this point, it also seems the films feel the same way. Up to a certain point, one could have taken in the individual films as such, but the mythology has grown, the cast continues to expand and if you're not caught up with the going-ons between Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) and his gang in correlation with the Shaw brothers (Luke Evans and Jason Statham) as well as with Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) and how it all ties in with Tokyo Drift then you may as well start from the beginning. For, as much as it is the insane action sequences and over the top fight scenes that keep the masses hungry for more it is the history of this now fifteen year-old franchise that keeps the heart pumping as healthily as it is. People will come for the action, but stay for the characters. It's really as simple as that and there essentially isn't much more to say, but the seventh entry in what was originally a street racing franchise has way too much going on to relegate it to little more than a footnote in a bigger universe. More than another chapter in an ongoing saga, Furious 7 will always be significant for the real world circumstances surrounding Paul Walker's untimely death and how that plays into this film. It was also always going to be rather significant, if not a turning point for the franchise at large, because it was the first time we'd be moving past Tokyo Drift chronologically. When Han (Sung Kang) showed up in Fast & Furious to hint that these events, five years after the original film, came even before the events of the third film (which technically, would actually be the sixth film) there has been a building towards a certain point and by the end of Fast & Furious 6 that point had been reached. What happens next? Furious 7 is the answer to that and while this latest film is certainly more poignant for reasons beyond its control it never forgets its main mission and continues to thrive on its self-awareness of just how outlandish it has become.

First Trailer for FURIOUS 7

It has been a tumultuous year for the cast and crew of the seventh film in the Fast & Furious series. I wasn't overly interested in the series until Justin Lin came along and decided there was something worth investing in. While Tokyo Drift felt like something of an audition for the director it has come to serve as a catalyst of sorts for the series. Going back in time to before the events of the third film, Lin brought us up to date with last years Fast & Furious 6 and from there on out we faced the unexpected. The unexpected came in tragic form last November though with Paul Walker's untimely death which sent the James Wan directed sequel into re-writes, delays, and an unquestionable future. Through all of this it feels like the series has become more of a cultural mainstay and closer to peoples hearts which will no doubt up the interest in the seventh film, but more than anything it will be nice to have one last opportunity to see Walker portray the character he will be most remembered for. I was and am beyond excited to see Jason Statham joining the cast this time around as the brother to Luke Evans Owen Shaw whom Statham is now out to avenge and it will be interesting to see how this plot plays out, but more than anything the future of the entire franchise rests on this installments shoulders as we wonder and wait to see where the crew will take us. Furious 7 also stars Vin Diesel, Dwayne Johnson, Michelle Rodriguez, Ludacris, Tyrese Gibson, Ronda Rousey, Tony Jaa, Nathalie Emmanuel, Lucas Black, John Brotherton, Djimon Hounsou, Kurt Russell and opens on April 3, 2015.

42 Review

I'm not a big sports fan, in fact you could say I'm barely a fan at all, but like most kids I played little league baseball and came to have a certain nostalgia for the game in my now early adult years. Besides that, I have always enjoyed films about sports despite my lack of any real interest in professional league athletics. Though 42 doesn't reach the heights of some of the greater sports films and instead turns out to be rather straightforward and formulaic it is still a solid, interesting, and inspiring film purely on the basis of how rousing and great the actual story of Jackie Robinson truly is. Like I said, not knowing much about sports I couldn't attest to the historical accuracy of the film, but as a person who knows little to nothing about professional baseball I can say that I thoroughly enjoyed the film and that lack of interest in what serves as the backdrop for the drama here didn't hinder my experience. Writer/director Brian Helgeland (A Knight's Tale) still seems a little unsure of himself behind the camera as that straightforward, square vibe the film radiates is partially due to the completely conventional and basic way in which the film is shot and the story is told. It could be called uninspired or it could be said that Helgeland knew his material was strong enough that he didn't need to worry about trying something innovative or different in the way he conveyed the story. This is true, but this also keeps the movie safe and inside the lines of every sports drama that has ever come out. What is disappointing about that is the fact Robinson's story is anything but safe and so outside the box that I hoped a film about his life would be the same. Despite these complaints, I can't harp on the shortcomings of the film too much as I found myself always engaged and entertained by what was unfolding on screen.

PROMISED LAND Review

Gus Van Sant is a director whose work I have unfortunately never been highly exposed to. I hear the guy is rather good, but besides his 2008 Oscar contender Milk and his rather underrated 2000 film Finding Forrester I haven't seen any of his films. Yes, this does mean I've never sat down and watched the film written by Matt Damon and Ben Affleck that made them stars and won them Oscars. I've heard mixed things about it and seeing as it came out when I was only ten years old I have a valid excuse I think for never getting around to it. Still, this matters little as Mr. Van Sant's latest film which again stars Matt Damon is a beautifully looking tale of moral conflict that deals with an issue known as fracking. We'll get more into that interesting term later, but to draw you into why you should be interested in this film would be to say that it not only stars good, credible actors such as Damon, Frances McDormand, John Krasinski, Hal Holbrook, Rosemarie DeWitt and several other, lesser known character actors who have small parts as the towns folk opposed to the big bad corporate company coming into town and taking away their pride. Besides that, this was also written and produced by both Damon and Krasinski and was originally intended as Damon's directorial debut. Who knows what or how different this film might have been had it been made under Damon's directorial eye, we won't know until we get a chance to see that, but with what has been delivered here I can feel nothing if not appeased by the effort. There is a straightforward, matter of fact feel to the film that paints a black and white picture but doesn't stop there. It takes things a step further and adds a more complex layer of conflict we as an audience naturally place ourselves in the middle of.