Movie Review: Furious 7

This 2015 addition might arguably be the best known Fast and Furious film for those who are not familiar with the franchise, and it was for a very sad reason. On November 30, 2013, Paul Walker died in a single car accident while the film was halfway through production. The cast and fans were devastated by his loss and the production was put on an indefinite hold. With the studio and the cast behind it the seventh film proceeded on in Walker’s memory. In my opinion it has definitely been the most heartfelt Fast film to date, and I do not believe it will be topped. As always spoilers will be ahead. I DO NOT OWN THE PICTURE.

Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) has been trying to help his long-time love Letty Ortiz (Michelle Rodriguez) regain her memories after the events of the previous film, but it has been difficult for her. While helping out his once again pregnant sister Mia (Jordana Brewster), friend Brian (Walker with stand-ins including brothers Caleb and Cody Walker after Paul’s death) and nephew Jack, Dom receives a phone-call from a man threatening his family before a bomb sent from Tokyo destroys the Toretto house. Discovering Han (Sung Kang) is dead and DSS agent Luke Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) is in the hospital after a severe beating Dom gets the crew back together: Brian, Letty, Roman (Tyrese Gibson) and Tej (Chris “Ludacris” Bridges) to go after the man revealed to be Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham) brother of Owen Shaw (Luke Evans) who has sworn revenge for putting him in a coma. Dom and his crew are ready to fight off Shaw, but they need to do something first for a special ops unit. Headed by Mr. Nobody (Kurt Russell) Dom and his crew agree to help the government obtain a computer program called God’s Eye (basically Big Brother) as well as the person behind it, a hacker named Ramsey (Nathalie Emmanuel). However the mercenary that has her, Mose Jakanda (Djimon Hounsou) is not going to let her or God’s Eye go without a fight. With Deckard following close behind Dom and his crew are on their most dangerous adventure yet, which also includes an amazing fight between Letty and an Abu Dhabi security guard named Kara (Ronda Rousey). I cannot go more without spoiling the rest of the movie, but I promise this: there will not be a dry eye in the house the last few moments of the movies it pays tributes to Paul Walker.

I think the film was anticipated by many Fast and non-Fast fans because of how they were going to retire Walker’s character, and I thought how it happened was absolutely perfect; I can promise looking around the the theater people were crying from little tears to full blow sobbing. The movie itself could not have been better: the writing, action and characters were at their highest peak. The stunts done by either the cast or the cars were just mind boggling; in other words probably more than any other Fast film throw logic out the window (a car drives thru three buildings for crying out loud!) Jason Statham was perfect as Deckard Shaw; easily topping his brother in the previous film as the best bad guy in the Fast franchise until recently but that is for another day. I think this might be my favorite of the Fast franchise so far if anything for what the filmmakers and cast did for Paul Walker’s character and the actor himself. I might even call this film the must-see movie of the entire Fast franchise. While obviously you should watch at least five and six before this one Furious 7 will leave any action fan happy and anyone with a heart swelling with a smidgen of happy and sad. One last thing, do not forget to watch I Am Paul Walker on the Paramount Network airing tonight.

Comic-Con Trailer Reviews: Aquaman, Fantastic Beasts, Godzilla, Shazam and Glass

While I have yet to attend a Comic-Con the pictures make it seem like everyone is having a fabulous time. I may go one day, but in the meantime I’ll have to settle for the trailers released later than the Comic-Con public. Over the weekend trailers for upcoming television shows and movies were released and some of them I cannot wait to see. I’m going to take a look at five of the trailers released for upcoming films, what I think may happen in the film, the overall feel of the trailer and if I think the film will do well.

1. Aquaman. After his successful film debut in Justice League Aquaman is finally getting his own live-action feature film. Arthur Curry (Jason Moma) is the half human and half-Atlatean ruler of the underwater kingdom of Atlantis. His father was a lighthouse keeper named Thomas (Temuera Morrison) while his mother is Queen Atlanta (Nicole Kidman) who washed up ashore. Arthur receives word from Mera (Amber Herd), a beautiful warrior, that his half-brother Orm (Patrick Wilson) wants to start a war with the surface world. In addition to potentially overthrowing his brother Arthur also meets another foe in David Kane, aka Black Manta (Yahya Abdul-Manteen II), a ruthless mercenary and treasure hunter. I know director James Wan wanted to wait until the trailer was perfect before releasing it; and boy was it worth it. The special effects, particularly in Atlantis, were breathtaking. The actors looked incredible in their respective roles; I cannot wait to see more of Moma and Herd from their time in Justice League while also looking very much forward to Wilson, Manteen and Kidman debuts. I can only hope the movie is as good as the trailer made it look. I know most DC films have not been received very well by audiences and critics, but maybe Aquaman can break the cycle like Wonder Woman did.
2. Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald. I have made no secret of my love for Harry Potter recently, so it is probably no surprise to you how excited I am for this. Gellert Grindelwald (Johnny Depp) has escaped from custody since the last time the audience saw him and seems to be gathering followers for an uprising against the non-magic people (Muggle or No-Majs, whatever you wish to call them). Needing help in stopping his former friend (and possibly more than that) a young Albus Dumbledore (Jude Law) recruits his former student Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) in his quest. Returning from the first film is Tina Goldstein (Katherine Waterston), an American auror and Newt’s love interest, Jacob Kowalski (Dan Folger) a no-Maj who had his memory erased after the events of the first film but obviously something made him remember, Queenie Goldstein (Alison Sudol) Tina’s legilimens (ability to read minds) sister and Credence Barebone (Ezra Miller) a young man with a something very dark inside of him (and was thought to have died in the last film.) We also meet Leta Lestrange (Zoe Kravitz), Newt’s ex whom he still has feelings for (if you recognize the last name you know why this relationship did not work out) and we also finally have eyes on a character mentioned in the first book. Much like its predecessors the special effects look absolutely wonderful, the characters we have loved in the first film are back (I can’t wait to see how much they’ve grown) and I’m thrilled to see some of the newer characters and how they contribute to the story. I was genuinely surprised by the first film, I’ll go more into that one day, so I genuinely hope the sequel does just as well.
3. Godzilla: King of the Monsters. Now I’m not gonna lie, monster movies have never really been something I’m into; I haven’t really seen a full Godzilla movie but I plan to someday. In the meantime the sequel to the 2014 will be out next year and boy does it look fantastic. Humans seem to be on the verge of extinction and Dr. Emma Russell (Vera Farmiga) seems to have the solution: unleash the rightful rulers of Earth. Those just happen to be monsters called the Titans: Godzilla, Monthra, Rodan and King Ghidorah. Also staring Kyle Chandler, Millie Bobbie Brown, Bradley Whitford, Ken Watanabe, Sally Hawkins and Thomas Middleditch humanity must now fight against god like creatures.  My exact thoughts were (in the most sarcastic voice possible) “oh yeah cause releasing gigantic monsters is humanity’s only hope GREAT IDEA!” The effects for this film are stunning; let’s hope the story matches and they don’t kill off the top star within the first twenty minutes like in 2014. I do not know if I’m gonna see this in theaters, I have a little catching up to do on my monsters, but it will not surprise me if at the end of the film we get a surprise of a certain gigantic ape.
4. Shazam! I was familiar with this hero maybe a little more than some of the other people I’ve seen reacting to this trailer, so I think this is a great opportunity for audiences to become familiar with one of DC’s arguably most underrated heroes. Billy Batson (Asher Angel) runs away from foster home after foster home until finally forced to settle with the Vasquez family. He does become close with one of his foster brothers Freddy (Jack Dylan Grazer) a disabled superhero fan. One day, after defending Freddy from bullies, Billy gets on a subway and gets transported to another realm. An ancient wizard (Djimon Hounsou) has chosen Billy to be a champion, and all he has to do is say his name: Shazam. When Billy does he is transformed into an adult (Zachary Levi) with multiple superpowers; including super strength, flight and is bulletproof. Along with Freddy Billy has to handle his new abilities, but it won’t be long before a threat to his abilities comes forward. Once again I won’t lie and say I’m on the fence when it comes to this film. Shazam, otherwise known as Captain Marvel but will not be called that for obvious reason, is very similar to Superman (which is why there have been multiple stories of them coming to blows) so I know there is going to be that comparison. When I heard Zachery Levi was cast I wasn’t completly convinced he could be Shazam; although remembering he has done child-like characters before erased those thoughts. I’m gonna wait and see the film before I fully judge Levi’s performance. I know Mark Strong is set to be the bad guy, but the trailer did not focus on him so I’m not entirely sure what he is going to do. The film does seem to be more light-hearted and funny compared to DC’s recent works, which fits in with the Shazam character. I do plan on watching the movie, but for now I’m on the fence about Shazam!
5. Glass. I originally wasn’t going to do this as I have not seen the prior films, but it has been one of the most talked about trailers so I feel obligated. Dr. Ellie Staple (Sarah Paulson) specializes in those who believe they are superheroes. Her latest patients: David Dunn (Bruce Willis) a security guard with superhero strength, invulnerability and has the psychological ability to see what horrible things people have done by a simple touch, Elijah Price aka Mr. Glass (Samuel L. Jackson) a brilliant mass murderer with fragile bones and Kevin Wendell Crumbs aka The Horde (James McAvoy) a man with over 20 personalities in him including a personality known as The Beast (a sociopath and a cannibal.) The film will see how all three men are connected. While I have not seen Unbreakable or Split yet I have seen enough peaks to know how creepy Glass, Dunn and especially Crumbs are; when I saw the trailer for Split I had chills down my spine. It looks like the film takes place back and forth; it appears we are going to find out how these three men know each other and how they ended up in the psych ward (which from the trailer looks freaky.) McAvoy, Willis and Jackson are three very great actors and I know they are going to be just as great in their respective roles. Sarah Paulson is also a fine actress and from what I’ve seen in the trailer she seems to be just as good as she usually is. I am not sure if I’ll watch Glass when it is in theaters, but we’ll see.

Those are my thoughts on the trailers released from Comic-Con, what are yours? Please leave your thoughts below on what you are looking forward to.