Film Review: ‘The Fate of the Furious’ is a Vehicle Running on Fumes

Submitted by PatrickMcD on April 13, 2017 - 4:20pm

CHICAGO – Bigger, Dumber, and Duller…that’s the name of the game this time in this ongoing franchise which is now so ludicrous it makes Bond films seem like the epitome of realism. While it’s true this is the first time Oscar winners and a “Fast and the Furious” film have ever been associated together, there’s a dearth of inspiration in this eighth go around…as this series is now operating almost completely on autopilot.

Rating: 2.5/5.0

This long-running series has collected more characters than you might think over the years, and nearly all the big players are back – here joined this time by Oscar winner Charlize Theron playing a cyberterrorist named Cipher, out to get her hands on some nuclear warheads. The plot pits Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) against the “Family” he’s been yammering about for eight movies now, without the pall of Paul Walker’s death to give the overworked cliché any meaning anymore. He double crosses Hobbs (Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson) after a secret government mission to retrieve a WMD in Berlin, and Dom appears to go rogue in cahoots with Theron’s Cipher. But the audience at a Fast and The Furious film doesn’t expect much drama from Vin Diesel’s lunkheaded chrome dome, and so his Fate is never really in doubt.

”The Fate of the Furious” opens everywhere on April 14th. Featuring Vin Diesel, Jason Statham, Dwayne Johnson, Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, Charlize Theron, Kurt Russell, Scott Eastwood and Helen Mirren. Written by Chris Morgan. Directed by F. Gary Gray. Rated “PG-13”