The 8th instalment: The Fate of the Furious

The Good. There are many good points to enjoy about The Fate of the Furious, it’s 8th instalment of The Fast and The Furious. One thing for sure are the stars of the show and the trailer has hinted that John Statham will be combining forces with the FF gang. Why FF series are so popular because it resonates to the audience with one specific theme – “We are family”. Hence, you are bound to see family bonds between the non-biological related characters and their chemistry on screen seems to bring an emotional connection to the audience. I was already sold after Fast and the Furious 4 when the main characters united and the momentum never stopped since then.

The set pieces were pretty good and maybe to an extent, mind-blowing. Why I say to an extent? Because majority of the sequences are OTT (over-the-top). Then again, the producers of FF somehow brainwashed us along the series that FF movies are no-brainer entertainment and treat it as a popcorn (level) movie. Yes, most of the scenes defy logic and physics but we as the audience will still be glued to the screen despite these known factors. My favourite scene will be in the city where cars are being hacked and have minds of their own. Awesome!! I wonder what’s next? Space travel? Who knows…

The Bad. The big thing that ticked me is Dom’s character (Vin Diesel) when he turned rogue and turn his back on his “family”. This is no spoiler as it was clearly stated in the trailers. I was more upset on the motive of his decision to turn rogue. I just felt that it wasn’t that convincing to begin with. I just found it “bleeeh”. Then again, most of the plot of FF8 doesn’t really made sense but we still enjoyed it nonetheless. I would have given the movie extra points if the producers fixed some loop holes in this flawed movie.

The OTT sequences may be bearable but also to an extent. The final act of the movie raised my eyebrows and this reminds me of espionage movies such as James Bond series. It has come to that level that the protagonists are tough to die and give what the fans/audience want – a happier ending. I would say that FF8 was slightly below the rating of FF7 (which I would watch again and again). Will I watch FF8 the second time? Maybe yes, maybe no. Oh yea, the movie is more than 2 hours long and it’s a bit unnecessary.

The Ugly. I’m surprised that this franchise is able to stretch to this level of success, releasing its 8th movie. No other movie franchise has reached this milestone apart from the Harry Potter series. FF franchise is a cash cow business model. The FF7 made around USD 1.5 billion in ticket sales. That’s a ridiculous amount of money. Now, why do I put this in the “ugly” side? Because producers of FF franchise will begin to produce more FF movies (FF9 in 2019 and FF10 in 2021) and I can tell you that there are running low on ideas. I just hope it doesn’t go down to the level of Michael Bay’s Transformers (Just beyond ridiculous and yet we still watch them *lol*).

Verdict: We have come to an era where over-the-top action can be accepted (when comes to Fast & Furious franchise). Slightly underwhelming than FF7 while FF5 is still the best among the lot. I still enjoyed FF8 honestly but they are running out of ideas.The Fate of the Furious also scored the lowest since FF5 with 64% on Rottentomatoes.

Rating: 8/10