7 Reasons Furious 7 Is Beyond Awesome

Disclaimer: I’m a fan of the entire Fast and the Furious series.  Every single one.  Even Tokyo Drift.  This may seem odd since I’m not a car guy nor am I into racing in any way, but in terms of mindless entertainment it’s hard to beat this franchise.  It took me far too long to see the seventh installment, but now that I have I’m prepared to give you seven reasons why this movie is beyond awesome.  You can see them all  after the break.

Warning: Only minor spoilers below, nothing critical to the plot.  If that matters to you.  Which it shouldn’t because of the franchise but I respect it anyway.

1. Fans are rewarded

The entire franchise has gone through its ups and downs.  All fans can acknowledge the lowest point was Tokyo Drift, although it’s hard to hate that movie too much because it gave us a brief credits-stinger that ended up bringing the entire franchise back from the dead.  Although you certainly don’t need to see Tokyo Drift to make sense of Furious 7, let alone any other movie ever made (including Tokyo Drift), those of us that did see and remember the third film will be rewarded by the appearance of a certain character.  It’s a nice nod to the loyal fans because Tokyo Drift was basically The Next Karate Kid of the franchise except all Next Karate Kid did was launch the career of a future multiple Oscar winning actress but Tokyo Drift gave us a car versus tank chase on a bridge.  Tokyo Drift wins.

If you didn’t see Tokyo Drift then during Furious 7 you may stop to think about who this character is and why he is where he is talking the way he does.  It won’t make much sense.  But that level of critical thinking shouldn’t be applied to any part of a Fast and Furious movie.  So check your intellect at the door, egghead.

2. The Rock is seasoning, not the main dish

I’m not a huge fan of The Rock…Dwayne Johnson…whatever.  But he certainly has talent and charm–I just don’t like it when he’s on screen too much. This movie has the perfect amount of The Rock.  He’s seasoning instead of the steak.  His character is made a bit more human by introducing his target for kidnapping or a serious threat in the next movie daughter to us all, but otherwise he’s barely in the movie except to fight a bit, shoot a bit, and sneer a bit.  Perfect amount.  He’s like the right amount of salt to a fine meal.  I realize this is a long way to go to make a rock salt joke, but you’re the one reading an article about 7 reasons this movie was awesome so who’s really more groan worthy?

3. The trailers didn’t give away the best parts

Fast 6 was a fantastic movie but one of my biggest complaints was that the biggest stunt and most important scene was pretty much ruined by the first trailer.  I was concerned they did the same thing this time as the trailers for Furious 7 showed some intense moments.  But these weren’t the most intense or the most important–and all happen well within the first half of the film.  There were entire locales and set ups that I knew nothing about despite seeing the trailers.  It’s always nice to be surprised.

4. Paul Walker’s tribute was fantastic

Speaking of a surprise, the way they handled Paul Walker’s death was an utter shock and absolutely incredible.  Kudos to everyone involved in that.  We all know of his untimely death and that the movie addressed it in some way, but the way I expected it to happen didn’t come at all.  And what they did was a fantastic, fantastic moment.  I just wish my allergies hadn’t flared up at during this part because it probably made me look weepy and FAST AND FURIOUS FANS DO NOT WEEP DAMMIT!

5. Technology matters, but this isn’t a tech movie

Technology plays a crucial role in this film but not in any way that makes sense.  I won’t spoil anything, but there’s a moment early on where the team is performing something that is just impossible.  It is.  Their excuse?  “GPS is handling it!”  This would be the equivalent of me showing up to run a marathon and saying “Don’t worry–Google Maps got this covered!”  The only thing it’s going to cover is the exact spot to pick me up (about ten feet after the start line, I’m no fool).

6. SNAKE!

This guy:

Yeah, he’s awesome in this movie too.  His character is basically Snake mixed with James Bond mixed with the best middle manager you’ve ever reported to.  Welcome to the family, Mr. Russell.

7. There’s more to come!

Vin Diesel recently revealed that the eighth film in the franchise will come out on April 14, 2017.  This is great news for two reasons, which will be combined into one because we can’t have 8 reasons in this article.  Duh.  First, it’s awesome that the franchise will continue–the box office on this beast was enough to guarantee that though.  The second and more important reason this news is awesome is that they are taking two years to make the movie.  Back when the fifth film was a success the plan had been to churn these movies out one a year.  When Paul Walker died they paused production to rewrite and make sure the movie was a solid send-off.  Now having seen what a bit of extra time can do with this series, it looks like Universal is getting serious about making some good movies to continue the series.  That’s good news for fans of the franchise or anyone else who just loves fun movies.