Family has been the theme and the bond that has held this franchise together for more than a decade of films to this point. Justin Lin and writer, Chris Morgan, continue building on that ideal within the first two minutes of this film. Mia Toretto (Jordana Brewster) gives birth to the baby that audiences were made aware of in the previous film, effectively extending the family on which this franchise has been built. From there, Morgan and Lin begin developing new antagonists that are unlike anything the franchise had seen before. Up until the thirty minute mark, every moment is spent slowly establishing how powerful and domineering these characters would be throughout the film; causing problems for characters like Dom (Vin Diesel) and Brian (Paul Walker) and the rest of the team. Luke Evans’ Owen Shaw is the first antagonist that meets the protagonists at their level. He possesses the same skills, the same amount of heart and the same drive necessary to compete with Toretto and O’Connor in almost every way. As the characters meet and begin to understand one another more and more, it becomes clear what the one major difference is between the two teams, family. The idea of family becomes more prevalent than ever before and ultimately leads to our beloved characters’ success by the end of the film. This film added new elements of action; it had its usual car chases and gun fights, but this film had many more fist fights than had ever been seen before in the franchise. Rome (Tyrese Gibson), Han (Sung Kang) and Letty (Michelle Rodruiguez), along with others, were given the opportunity to participate in hand-to-hand combat at multiple points throughout the film. Lin continued to develop what he had been working on since 2006. The film sees the characters travel the world, endure terrible hardships and build bonds that would last throughout the rest of the franchise. This film, in my opinion, is the best in the franchise to date. It encompasses all of the elements of the Fast and Furious franchise. Family, action, women and, for the first time since 2009, street racing played a role in the story. The film jumped from location to location, introduced what many might believe would be too many characters for one film and many of the stunts that take place throughout the film are incredibly far fetched and, yet, Lin managed to pull it off. The stunts, due to their intensity and how well the cast worked with one another, were accepted by most viewers. Lin, through the development of these characters (who were created by Gary Scott Thompson back in 2000) and the story that he has put together over the years, is able to do things that would not be as universally accepted in other settings. He perfectly set himself, and his cohorts, up to be successful in the future and has continually done what is necessary to keep the franchise rolling along. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1905041/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_3
Comments