If there was ever a movie that had fans longing for its debut, its Furious 7. With Furious 7 comes the end to the epic Fast & Furious franchise. Many fans have stated growing up with the storied franchise, making it even harder to cope with the realization that 7 is the final installment. The team has been busy traveling the world promoting the movie, attending premieres, even welcoming airlines with the movie wrapped on their respective airplanes.
Continuing the global exploits in the unstoppable franchise built on speed, Vin Diesel, Paul Walker and Dwayne Johnson lead the returning cast of Furious 7. James Wan directs this chapter of the hugely successful series that also welcomes back favorites Michelle Rodriguez, Jordana Brewster, Tyrese Gibson, Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, Elsa Pataky and Lucas Black.
But they went even further than that. To cap an end to one of the greatest film franchises of the past decade, they threw in a ton of new faces, international stars at that: Tony Jaa, Djimon Hounsou, Noel Gugliemi, Sung Kang, Ronda Rousey, Kurt Russell, Jason Statham, a local ATL favorite in Steve Coulter, and one of my favorite new actresses Nathalie Emmanuel (better known as Missandei in Game of Thrones).
The premier in Atlanta was shown in IMAX quality and I definitely recommend it for this film. With the amount of action in this movie you definitely want to experience the film in the type of quality and sound that the IMAX experience will provide.
There were some slow moments in the beginning, but about 30 minutes into it things start to pickup. There were a few spotty moments with Dom (Vin Diesel) and Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) that are going to remind you of a certain scene involving Neo & Trinity in the Matrix (are they conversing, or is she dying?). But the few slow moments and handful of clichés were clearly overlooked for the sake of the film being the final of the franchise. Another point to mention is the amount of explosions… You might start to feel like you’re watching a Michael Bay film.
I won’t ruin the ending for you but it was perfect, and not just for the series, but for Paul Walker as well. This is what you need to do this weekend, see this movie and know that all the characters from the first to the last get a final hurrah and you, the audience, get to bid a loving farewell to Paul. 9 out of 10.
-Jon J.