The Fast and the Furious is famous for its over-the-top action and speedy cars. So, with the seventh installment now in theaters on the Outer Banks, you might be asking yourself, “Should I go see Furious Seven?” I’m here to answer that question.

Furious Seven focuses on the infamous street racing Toretto gang who previously had worked with the United States government to take down an international terrorist. Now, the terrorist’s older brother is out for revenge. As the plot thickens, more characters are thrown into the mix along with a computer program called God’s Eye, which allows the user to access an abundance of information to locate specific people. The U.S. government wants to get a hold of the God’s Eye technology and the Toretto gang is called on for the job.

So, what does the movie do right? Furious Seven understands that as an action movie of such an extreme level, it shouldn’t take itself too seriously. Parachuting in cars is not exactly realistic, but it is pretty cool. Throughout the series, the writing has gotten progressively better and Furious Seven is no exception. The characters are interesting and the one-liners are abundant as ever. Furious Seven’s cinematography was well mastered and added to the high octane action, however the best part of the movie is, Paul Walker’s, who played Brian O’conner, proper send off. Any fan of the series knows how important the late Paul Walker was, not only to the movies themselves, but the community as well. Walker had been a part of the series since it’s first installment in 2001 and the tribute to him at the end of the movie left my friends and I in tears.

Although the movie contained many positive aspects, the one thing that bothered me throughout the film was Jason Statham’s character, Ian Shaw. Statham was marketed as the film’s primary antagonist and this holds true throughout the film, however his screen time is very limited. As a fan of Statham’s work, I was pretty excited to see him really do some damage. Don’t get me wrong, when he was on screen he delivered 100%, I only wish he would have appeared more often.

To summarize, the only con of the entire film is that the uber dangerous antagonist does not get enough screen time to satisfy my lust for fast paced action. Furious Seven is an excellent addition to The Fast and the Furious film franchise that delivers outrageous action sequences, whether by car or by foot.

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