Reviewed by Victor Rebikoff.
Director: F. Gary Grey, Universal Pictures International, M, 137 Minutes.
This latest ‘Fast and Furious’ addition is the eighth instalment in the ‘franchise, since the first in 2009, with filmmaker F. Gary Grey (‘The Italian Job’) at the helm and Vin Diesel reprising his tough role as Dom Torreto.
While different to the previous sequel only a few of Dom’s ‘family’ has returned particularly his devoted partner Letty (Michelle Rodriguez), companions Tej (Ludacris), Roman (Tyrese Gibson), Ramsey (Nathalie Emmanuel) and Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson), even the deadly Deckard (Jason Statham).
In his most dangerous caper to date Dom is seduced by the manipulative Cipher (Charlize Theron – ‘Atomic Blonde’), an international cyber-criminal, into betraying his closest comrades by joining her team of terrorists in a targeted act of terrorism.
After going to the dark side and abandoning his friends in the process it is left to Hobbs to take command of the crew in combatting the new threat to humanity before attempting to retrieve Dom from Cipher’s clutches.
To achieve their aim, Hobbs must rely on everybody’s help, including crew member Owen (Luke Evans), FBI ally Mr. Nobody (Kurt Russell), and former adversary Deckard – all of whom previously appeared in ‘Fast and Furious 7’.
The excitement reaches a fever-pitched climax in the concluding scenes through the gripping car chase across some icy plains involving numerous vehicles, tanks and a nuclear submarine that ultimately will test the fate and resolve of the furious team.
In many respects Grey’s ‘Fate of the Furious’ has been a far more entertaining and thrilling experience than any of the earlier sequels, focusing on exotic settings in Cuba and Iceland, a surreal storyline and some awesome action scenes.
Besides the terrific portrayal from Theron as the cyber terrorist there are of course the enjoyable performances from Diesel, Johnson and Statham, including Helen Mirren’s cameo appearance-not to mention the enthralling roller coaster ride from start to finish.
And following Grey’s well-directed production it should come as no surprise that another sequel is due for release sometime in June of this year.
Fate of the Furious is being televised on Channel 9 at 8.40PM Saturday 12 June
Vic’s Verdict: 3 ½ Stars
