Furious 7 (2015)

This was my first time watching this movie so I was able to see this without The Dark Knight effect. Essentially, I was able to see it through the lens as just another movie rather than have the passing of a main star passing away influence the movie's quality. There is a bit of sympathy bias when a movie comes out after the loss of an actor. That being said, the ending tribute to Paul Walker was very sweet, and would have been wrong for them not to include it. I bring in the sympathy bias because, like The Dark Knight, I thought this movie was not as good as people say it is. I generally look at the Wiki pages of the movies I’m reviewing, and the consensus was it was the best Fast and Furious yet. I think storywise, it is the weakest movie since Tokyo Drift. It had very generic motivations and was too basic, high-stakes action. The set pieces were insane. I do think we are entering into the Saints Row territory of wackiness in the set pieces. Jason Statham’s character started strong but after his introduction scene, he just felt bland. I also hate when macho guys feel the need to fistfight when the villain can just be shot and save so much time. This movie sucks compared to the last couple of entries. I do get they had to do some rewrites because of Paul but this just didn’t hit the way it should have. It’s an ok entry in the saga. It won’t hurt to watch while doing a binge of the series.

Story - 14%

Characters - 17%

Pacing - 16%

Spectacle - 20%

Entertainment - 17%

Total score: 84%

Grade scale:

90%-100% = must watch

80%-89% = solid, but could be better

70%-79% = Not terrible, watch if the characters or story interests you

60%-69% = only watch for completionist reasons

0%-59% = just skip it, I find the positives and they don't exist here