The Fate of the Furious (2017)

Furious 7 wasn't a great movie. It was quite a mess, to be honest, but at least it provided a nice ending to this worn-out franchise. What I'm trying to say is that The Fate of the Furious wasn't necessary at all. They made it anyway because these are the movies that make money which is why they made another mediocre action flick.

Dom (Vin Diesel) and Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) are on their honeymoon, enjoying their 'normal' life. All of a sudden, a mysterious woman (Charlize Theron) seduces Dom and makes him betray his family, and the old team must team up with Mr. nobody (Kurt Russell) and Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham) to bring Dom back home. 

The plot is quite absurd and ridiculous, which isn't anything new with this franchise, but it's also poorly developed, filled with so many plot holes it makes you question whether you are watching a Fast & Furious movie or not, and, in spite of the many twists, it never manages to surprise. The thing is that the twists are revealed too quickly and that they are rather predictable. Also, the connection with the previous storylines felt forced. 

The plot, however, has never been this franchise's greatest strength. The characters have. Unfortunately, here they aren't that good. Paul Walker's Brian O'Connor isn't around anymore and you can feel his absence, and the other characters are kinda ruined. There are a lot of new characters just showing up with no characterization, and a weak villain with unclear motives who still manages to stand out because of Charlize Theron's decent performance. 

Universal Pictures

There were some characters that managed to shine through, Dwayne Johnson's Hobbs and Jason Statham's Shaw. Although the first has become some sort of Hulk, and the latter kicks asses ever when he's carrying a baby, they get more screentime, they have a nice chemistry and they make the film a little bit more enjoyable as they bring some humour in.

In addition to Theron, Johnson and Statham, The Fate of the Furious also has good action sequences, especially those involving Johnson and Statham. There are too many explosions though and the action wasn't always exciting. The music is pretty good too. 

Then there's the opening sequence in Cuba. It's very well done, beautifully paced and with great cinematography. It was kinda useless plotwise, but it was fun and easily the best part of the film.