Director – F. Gary Grey
Starring – Vin Diesel; Dwayne Johnson; Jason Statham; Michelle Rodriguez; Tyrese Gibson; Chris Bridges; Nathalie Emmanuel; Kurt Russell; Scott Eastwood; Charlize Theron & Helen Mirren.
Running Time – 136 minutes (2 hours 16 minutes)
★★★✩✩
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It's been an up and down relationship with the Fast franchise, there wasn't any interest in these films until The Rock came on board from the fifth film to now. You know what you're going into when you see these films – cartoon-esque, stupid, action fun - basically these are our version of the 80s action film.
Sadly, like all things, if you keep rehashing the same old story beats, it becomes boring. It doesn't matter how good Dwayne Johnson or Jason Statham are, once you see one massive heap of cars crashing together, you've seen them all.
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In this eight instalment of this US action franchise, Dom (Diesel) is drawn back into the world of crime by a high-tech criminal called Cipher (Theron) and now it’s up to Luke Hobbs (Johnson) to stop his old friend.
Let's start with the positives, this franchise has a bright future if they keep two characters and build around them and that's Johnson's Hobbs and Statham's Deckard. These two actors have great chemistry and their individual wit, especially Statham who’s bloody hilarious, and charm does bring some life.
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Give me a buddy road trip film with these two and you'll make so much money.
It's just a shame for every positive moment you remember this is a Fast and Furious so they'll be repeating a lot of past films - family, Tyrese Gibson shouting, off the book's mission and lots and lots of car crashes.
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Maybe it's time for Vin Diesel to inject a lot of new blood to this slowly stale franchise.
Charlize Theron is just good as the villain which is a shame because, on one hand, she's quite menacing. Then, on the other hand, she's also playing it as a panto villain. The less we talk about Helen Mirren's cockney accent the better.
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I have no doubt this is going to be a massive blockbuster success and will make a billion worldwide. However, for Fast 9 (because we're getting it) maybe a director and writer who can keep the over the top fun, but also some proper character moments like Ben Wheatley and Amy Jump would be a fantastic chose.
Verdict
The Rock and Statham are brilliant and worth watching this boring film for alone. Just give me a buddy road trip with these two. Apart from that, it's the same old story and it's less entertaining then Fast 5-7.
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