Fast & Furious 8

There is no Paul in this movie, but too many big names, such Vin Diesel, Dwayne Johnson, Charlize Theron, Jason Statham, Elsa Pataky and so on. The absurd plot of "The Fate of the Furious" builds steadily toward climaxes again and again accompanied by racing cars, limousines, the beauty and the music.

The movie began in Cuba where Dom is cut in by a female stranger named 'Cipher'. Cipher compels Dom to oppose antagonize his team to do a series of jobs for her and take him from New York to Russia. The Spanish actor Charlize Theron who plays Cipher fits the role perfectly. In the movie, she is vicious, sexy and manipulative woman who is the team deal with and stop from causing a potential World War III.

One of the reasons which strengthens your laugh lines is that Dwayne Johnson and the Stath have a few of good taunting scenes. Moreover, Tyrese Gibson gives audience his best impression because he constantly makes fun at everyone including new comer Scott Eastwood. Then Letty who is trying to figure out why Dom has betrayed them, and Jason Statham who was a villain from the last film is on a path of redemption.

Another thing is to bring audiences some amazing stunts only when needed. The film is not disappointing. Some of the highlights include left turn and right turn vehicles, cars running out of the building, opening games in Cuba, shooting, guns, bombs, cars, army tanks and the wreckage of the stadium, and so on.

Just as the serials before, this movie is full of exciting moment which is over the top of the epinephrine action thriller. As long as carrying the open mind to enter, you will love the serials more. You can take this movie as a spring dream only, which can be woken up to go to run. The popcorn calories consumed, and then look forward to the dream of the next day.

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.

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.

Vin Diesel and the rest of the street-racing crew (with the exception of the late Paul Walker for obvious reasons) return for an eighth installment of two hours of car crashes, explosions, and over-the- top action set pieces. Like the previous entries of the popular franchise, this brisk action thriller is more about action and explosive special effects than character and plot development. As you expect from a movie dealing with non-stop car chases, this movie delivers just that. For those hoping for an action flick with a thoughtful story and firmly constructed character, this film will more than likely to be a diminishing disappointment. But for those who could care less about both aspects, this one is a whole lot of fun, if not without a few blemishes. And the new director behind this entry is F. Gary Gray who last spawned the biopic 'Straight Outta Compton'. This film follows Dominic Torretto (played by Vin Diesel) and Letty (played by Michelle Rodriguez) on their honey moon in Cuba. During their vacation, Dom is coaxed by a mysterious hot computer hacker Cipher (played by Charlize Theron) into joining her on a diabolical operation to steal an EMP weapon supplemented nuclear launch codes. With their once-loyal friend turning against them, Luke Hobbs (played by Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson) must reunite with the crew along with their former enemy Deckard Shaw (played by Jason Statham) to stop Cipher's heinous plan and solve the mystery behind Dom's betrayal.

This movie deliver just about everything fans would come to expect from a 'Fast and Furious' outing, from the bombastic car crashes, to the explosive street racing, to the close-up shots of scantily clad women (although the last one is a bit toned down). While the globe- trotting adventure shows little interest is constructing a powerful story or inspiring characters to feed off of, most of the cheers go to the street- racing scenes which exhibit our favorite characters engaging in frenetic, adrenaline-fueled car crashes that more often than not result in an excessive amount of property damage with cars blowing up and building torn with smithereens. Like the previous entries, this film shows no interest in obeying the laws of physics, or even engaging in authenticity. There's a brutal brawl in a prison, there are hundreds of cars dropped from buildings, there's a prolonged chase sequence on an icy field with Ryrese Gibson cruising across the ice on a car door, nearly every absurd stunt you can think makes it way on screen. As for the story, there is nothing special here aside from a few dark twists and surprises sprinkled along the way. Most of all characters we've come to know and love make their way back, and are charismatic as ever. Each of the cast take their stab at some humorous one-liners, particularly Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and Jason Statham when are two are bantering at each other. The performances are fine, but nothing that stands out especially if you have a hard time buying Charlize Theron as a computer hacking maniac with a sinister demeanor. At the end, the characters offer a predictable message about never turning your back on family, which has become a staple in the franchise after the countless times Vin Diesel's character preaches about family.

The Fate of The Furious is a loud, over-the-top action festival that is solidly entertaining for those willing to turn their brain off and enjoy the extravagant action material. While this installment doesn't quite add anything new to the franchise, it serves as a firm memo that the series still has energy in it's fuel tank.

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?