First off everyone brings their A game. If you can tell me you remember a plot from any other "Fast" movie great, but I do not LOL Sorry they just all melt together. This one is pretty clear. Jason Statham plays the villain Deckard Shaw, who's come to avenge his brother Owen Shaw (the last bad guy from the Furious 6) by taking out everyone person in the Furious crew that had something to do with putting his brother in a coma. Very simple. Next up are Vin and the boys whom are targeted by Deckard. The boys are lead normal lives now so Deckard getting them back in the mix...let's just say they didn't need much convincing. Enter Kurt Russell as Frank Petty who's tracking Mose (pronounced Moses) Jakanode played by Djimon Honsou, another bad guy who's kidnapped Ramsey, a tech nerd that invented God's Eye a system that track any living being using cell phones, satellites, or any device with a camera. Frank proposes if Dominic & the crew rescue Ramsey, they get the God's Eye, and can track Deckard. VERY VERY SIMPLE! Of course the execution is complicated.
The acting...you know it may not win an Oscar but there is this one scene (no spoiler) that Paul & Michelle rip your heart to pieces. I mean wow. Paul's amazing talent is going to be missed, and his chemistry with these actors cannot and will never be duplicated. And Tyrese is the funniest thing about this movie. He & Ludacris bring the funny to some pretty serious scenes. Kurt & Jason bring the focus; Jason is an action powerhouse, while Kurt elevates his scenes to a more serious tone. This cast couldn't have been picked any better.
The stunts in this movie are sic. Never once did I say "Oh man another Fast movie" or look at my watch. This movie moved it along and kept me looking at the screen. I will say for some odd reason in the beginning the first fight is between The Rock as Detective Luke Hobbs & Deckard. Dunno why but when Elsa Pataky came onscreen I said to myself "Oh Chris Hemsworth's wife" and I kept wanting her in the movie more throughout the entire thing. I may have a lady crush LOL On the flip side there was alot of T&A in the movie (yes tits and ass). I mean you can tell two straight men wrote & directed this movie. It was a little gratuitous. But the funny part is all the extra women were objectified; the lead women were not. In fact Michelle Rodriguez fought Gal Gadot in full makeup, heels, and an evening gown without breaking a nail; I LOVED that scene.
Overall this movie was worth the price of admission especially seeing it on the big screen. In the previews it shows cars jumping out of planes. Yeah that was INSANE! And I loved it. But the best was the tribute to Paul Walker at the end. If you didn't cry or even get tears (which I teared up), you have no soul. I'm not sure what scenes Cody Walker filled in for Paul but everything was seamless. Director James Wan (mostly known for Saw 1 & 3, Insidious 1 & 2, and the Conjuring 1 & 2) broke out of his horror movie shell and knocked it out of the park with this one; while writer Chris Morgan (penned Furious 4-6 and one of my favorite movies of all time Cellular) tied everything together.