The script is hilariously bad but the stunts and sheer camp audacity makes The Fate of the Furious a hoot
The Fate of the Furious sees the protagonists finally settled into a normal life but when one of them betrays the group the team reunite for another fast and chaotic adventure
The Fate of the Furious
(12A) 136mins
Reader - Genuinely don’t know what to write here.
I’ve just walked out of the screening of this, the EIGHTH(!) in the Fast and Furious franchise and I feel as though someone has driven over my balls with a Bugatti Veyron.
FAF8 is certainly the most nutsoid film I’ve seen this year and quite possibly the year before that too. IT. IS. INSANE.
FYI Vin Diesel pushes a torpedo away with his bare hands and then cowers behind four cars when there is a nuclear explosion AND IT IS FINE AND EVERYONE CHEERS WITHOUT QUESTIONING THIS.
CONFESSION: I started this job a year ago and, up until 2 hours ago - had never seen a single one of this franchise. Cinematic blasphemy? Quite possibly, but stuff it - I’m not entirely sure it matters.
Vin Diesel plays Dom, a guy who for various reasons is persuaded to go rogue and fight head to head with “his crew”. He’d die for his crew - so that’s how serious this is.
The plot revolves around this heady revelation and his crew’s (including his new wife) incredulity at the treacherous and cataclysmic turn of events.
Aside from the daftest of premises, this is hilarious and done so tongue in cheek it could calcify your saliva glands. The cast know exactly why they’re there - to fight, drive and wisecrack.
Jason Statham is amazing (Words I never thought i’d print #76387) and as a baddy, Charlize Theron gives it the perfect amount of nonsense.
It has all you want from an Easter weekend distraction. Muscles, explosions and cars - OH the cars! I’m a motorbike guy, but good lord - there are some fine looking motors doing the Lord’s work here.
MOST READ IN FILM
They may rewrite the rules of physics, but by jove, who knew a 30 year old car could shift that fast thanks to some compressed air and the tab off a coke can! Seriously though - keep your eye out for Jeremy Clarkson walking out of the cinema with a jacket over his lap - the cars and driving are ACE and the set pieces rival James Bond.
Nuclear submarines crashing in to cars, cars crashing into tanks, tanks that can go 200mph across ice - the full bloody ridiculous shooting match.
Pair this with Helen Mirren playing Peggy Mitchell with Gaston from Beauty and the Beast as Phil and Jason Statham as Grant - chuck in some cars with grappling hooks for good measure and you have daft cinematic uptopia.
The script is hilariously bad (and often plain hilarious), the characterisation makes ‘Pacific Rim’ look like ‘I, Daniel Blake’ but the cars, the stunts and the sheer camp audacity make this an absolute hoot. I’ll take 8 more thanks.
The Fate of the Furious (12A) 136 mins
Rating: ★★★★☆