Fast & Furious 8

The F&F franchise has turned into The Expendables with cars, and like the last film, it gladly embraces its absurd plot and over-the-top action set pieces. It starts off with Dom on his honeymoon in Cuba where he is interrupted by a mysterious woman called 'Cipher' played by Charlize Theron. She forces him to turn against his team in order to do a series of jobs for her taking him from New York to Russia. Theron fits the role perfectly, she is menacing, seductive and manipulative and could play a perfect Bond villain.

Just as it threatens to be gloomy, there is some laughs to be had. Dwayne Johnson and the Stath have a good taunting scene where they shout puns at each from their prison cells. But yet again Tyrese Gibson gives us his best improv yet as he constantly pokes fun at everyone including new comer Scott Eastwood. Director F Gray (new comer to the series) has to deal with a lot of characters here. But he still manages to give them some sort of story arc and does a good job at keeping them interesting. Hobbs coaches his daughters football team in his spare time, there's a love triangle going on between Tejj, Roman and Ramsey. Then there's Letty who is trying to figure out why Dom has betrayed them and Jason Stathams villain from the last film is on a path of redemption.

Another thing that the franchise does so well is give us some breathtaking stunts with minimal CGI (only when needed). The film doesn't disappoint, some of the standout moments include vehicles being flipped left right and centre, cars being driven out of a buildings, an opening race sequence and wrecking ball scene to name a few. However its not perfect, there is a lot of pointless exposition dialogue to keep us up to date with what is going on. Plot device 'Gods Eye' from Furious 7 comes back which is used against the team. One scene involving Dom hiding from 'Gods Eye' so he can have a cuppa with Helen Mirren is laughable. The laws of physics are non existent of course (but its not a documentary) and it is the most implausible entry of the series yet.

Nitpicking aside, don't go into F8 expecting any realism or logic because there is none of it here. Just turn your brain off because its more brawn than brain. Like its predecessors, its filled with exciting, over the top, adrenaline fuelled action thrills; and there's enough harpoon guns to give Batman a run for his money. Just go into it with an open mind and you will enjoy it a lot more, its a great time at the cinema.

Furious 7 had one the best conclusions for a film series ever. I and was perfectly happy if the series ended there and continued with spin-offs or hell even a Netflix TV show. But the almighty dollar wants these films to continue. I really had my doubts going into this film. I didn't think the series had any fuel left. The story arch in the last 3 films was complete. What else can we tell now that the main antagonist was no longer in the series? Well, I was wrong, really wrong, I was very surprised by this movie, surprised to the fact that I was very entertained and had as much fun as I had with this series since Tokyo Drift (yes I liked Tokyo Drift). The main driving point of the story (which the trailers express) of Dom going rouge was a valid plot point and with a twist to the series that worked.

What I liked about the film was the main plot device and of course the action. All the action scenes were all fun to watch (personally, I like the opening sequence best) But this movie delivered on what it promises and that's over the top action. At one point our anti- heroes seemed like superheroes who drive in their own "Batmobiles" and ride to the rescue.

What I didn't like was fact that a couple of action scenes were fun but very ridiculous and somewhat didn't work for me. And one of the characters in the film has an arch that just betrays the last two films and makes you question the motive of others. But on the downside, the franchise will run out of fuel soon and start to get that "been there, done that" feel to it that will make the next films seem boring. You somewhat feel that in the climax of this film but it's the main plot point that keeps the action scene lifted because you know it's coming just when and how keeps you invested.

All in all the movie was really good and you will be entertained and I would rank it as well as parts 5, 6 and 7 but the finish line is near and I feel the next films (I read 2 more are coming) will not have enough fuel to make to the finish line. Will the next films kick in the NOS and project us to the finish line...I really do hope so.

Fast & Furious saga it's funny. We'll travel by fantastic places, we'll see again characters, we'll see fantastic cars, we'll listen music, we'll have new ideas about family. Movie is colorful, plenty of action, new challenges, new characters, new connections.. I enjoyed, My family enjoyed too. If you like last movies, this will not be exception.

What started as racing franchise has now shifted gear into a mix of old James Bond flick and shade of Marvel blockbuster. It may feel zealously exaggerated, and with high level of adrenaline and testosterone, it is indeed excessive. However, fueled by staggering amount of star power and crowd pleasing scenes, it's undoubtedly s fantastic spectacle.

Story doesn't veer much from the already established formula, another new threat that tries to divide and conquer, giving ample opportunities for the myriad of action heroes to fight, as well as collaborate, with each other. For the better parts, this works in creating a minimal drama even though there's bound to be slight disbelief concerning the plot, or just disregard of simple physic in general.

The script consists of war cries from video games and old school banters from decades ago. It's not without the humor and charm, it might even be distracting if they sound too flamboyant seeing the action is downright the stuff of superhero movie. There's the same amount of fists thrown and flying cars, and any other unbelievable shenanigans in between, in glorious slow motion and less glorious CGI.

It's nearly infectious in the delivery, almost looking like collection of scenes deemed to be too absurd and until now was buried in action movie vault yet they are so gleefully pompous, one can't help being dragged around by its pace. The action stars collide in battle royale style, even if one scraps all the other parts of the movie, there's an inevitable hook in the concept of The Rock, Vin Diesel and Jason Statham trading actual and verbal jabs.

It also helps that choreography for fights look convincingly fast and brutal enough to suit each character. The transition between grand locations, or towards another scuffle, is accompanied by good cinematography and equally vibrating soundtracks. While it may screech towards certain parts, the actors contribute in their own way, either it through surprisingly good acting or fitting humor.

There's enough in the production tank to keep the excitement rolling. Sure, it can be campy at times, but there's no denying that it's a high velocity spectacular action entertainment.

The action is fine (although it is a Transformers, Michael Bay kind of action), but that script, oh my god the script is so cheesy... This thing about cyber terrorism where everyone is a hacker, but no one uses a mouse on a computer, they all just type in front of a holographic screen with moving images from a Star Trek movie. It is just getting old. Enough with the "lets hack into a network of satellites in 10 seconds".

The characters have no real spunk behind them, they just appear, because they have to. The motives of the villain are silly and unclear, the villains henchmen are targets for shooting practice. The last couple FF movies were much much better in terms of story, still over the top action, but they had some feeling.

This one is just a flick for children, it's slow motion fx, big "really big" explosions, lots of good quality cgi, and fitting for a kids movie not a drop of blood.

I give it a 6, because the production and the action are great, and I like the fact that some big Hollywood names appeared in it. But it is more like a 5.7, oh did I mention that the acting sucks as well?