"F9" Review: For True Fans Only
There’s no question, F9 is for the fans! If you have a problem with submarines, shootouts where trained military miraculously miss one person running away, airstrips that last forever…you’ve probably checked out a couple installments ago anyway. This film gives you the story rooted in family that you’ve grown to love and the superhuman, physics law breakin’ action true fans have come to expect. I’ll admit, this die hard fan is a ten second car away from riding off to the sunset on this franchise as well.
The film starts in the past to give us more backstory on Dom (Vin Diesel). From there the film plays out exactly as you would expect. There’s a big action set piece to get our heroes back in the action after finding out a world destroying weapon has potentially gotten into the hands of new villain, Jakob (John Cena), who is Dom’s long lost brother. (This is all trailer info of course.) In fact, the trailer gives away most surprises. The question is, how does it all connect?
How does it all connect is a question that, like family, is a through line through the franchise. How did Han (Sung Kang) survive? How have we never heard about Dom’s brother? Are they really going to space with a car? All questions are answered in their own zany ways. In fact, the film gets meta as Roman (Tyrese Gibson) and Tej (Chris Bridges) talk about how they never get killed or seriously hurt throughout all of their adventures.
Has the Fast & Furious franchise jumped the shark? You would have thought it had when they jumped a submarine, but it persists and we love it for its insanity. However, this installment is really pushing its limits. Whether they talk about invincibility or Dom lands like Superman with an explosion behind him (close enough that you’d think he’d feel it or cover his head) we’re entering Marvel territory here. My grandfather used to tell me a story of how he fought 100 men on a bridge in the Korean War. It’s a classic in our family, but we knew it was fake. Some screenwriter must have heard grandpa’s story though and took it seriously! This can’t go on much further like this. Check the record, I’m a huge fan! So I say this with absolute love and respect. The franchise needs young blood and a change of direction, otherwise 10 should be the final bow.
Real fans will not be disappointed, but I believe your faith will be tested. The film’s pacing is a bit clunky as we deal with so many flashbacks to explain one particular aspect of the past. However, the family theme is there, nearly all major characters are here and the insane action is definitely front and center! I’d highly suggest watching 1, 4, 5, and 6 if you want to go into this with a fresh memory of who is who and what’s what. Otherwise, get ready for an entertaining time at the movies. See it in theaters for the best experience!
Rating: C+
Middleburg Film Festival '18: "Widows" Review
In lesser hands Widows would be a run of the mill heist film. Give this script to any other director and you may not be challenged to keep up visually in the way Steve McQueen intelligently crafts this film. Give this script to any other cast and the words wouldn’t be elevated from the page to create characters that we see transform throughout the course of the film. Grab your popcorn folks; this is why we go to the movies!
Set in Chicago, Veronica (Viola Davis), Linda (Michelle Rodriguez), Alice (Elizabeth Debicki) and Amanda (Carrie Coon) are found grieving the loss of their criminal husbands. After the hubbies perish in their latest heist attempt, their death means nothing to the people they owed. Local crime boss turning politician, Jamal Manning (Brian Tyree Henry), seeks the money that Harry Rawlings (Liam Neeson) and his crew stole from him on principle, but also because he’s running against Jack Mulligan (Colin Farrell), the man whose family has been alderman of their district for two generations prior. Manning’s motive for getting the two million dollars is solid and with his cold-blooded gangsta brother, Jatemme (Daniel Kaluuya), eager to help his brother win the elected spot, Veronica has no choice but to get to work. Equipped with a notebook her husband Harry left, Veronica decides that she can get out of debt and start a new life if she and her fellow widows can pull off the big caper Harry plotted out.
McQueen’s work has always been raw, dark, and visually biting. He’s able to use those elements, set against the climate of current day Chicago, to give us a memorable, blockbuster heist film. The opening itself is a Soviet Montage of sorts that doesn’t lovingly bring you into the story but crashes together in a rhythmically edited mashup that quickly brings the audience up to speed. McQueen leads the story with his camera, laying the ground work for his actors to step in and knock the ball out of the park, and they come through.
This review would be too long if each cast member got their time to shine here, but know that they do. Of note, Davis delivers a stellar performance as per usual by giving Veronica an internal conflict that is exhibited in a way that only Mrs. Davis can do over the course of the film! Elizabeth Debicki may certainly have the best character development throughout the film as you literally watch a shutdown and abused widow become a leader and empowered woman. All of the lead and supporting cast give us well rounded characters to watch on screen.
McQueen and co-screenwriter Gillian Flynn never telegraph an overt message in dialogue, but rather McQueen uses visuals to explain the issues in Chicago. The political race between Mulligan and Manning is a plot point, but there is a larger conversation to be had in our minds as audience members about the violence in the streets of the Chi. There’s a beautiful single take shot that shows the economic disparity that pushes the story forward while making you think afterwards.
The only small issue with the film may be in the eagerness to gain their dignity and respect, there is an ever pervasive message of the widows trying to prove themselves in their words. Their actions already show that they’re more than capable so we don’t need on the nose lines like “no one thinks we have the balls to pull this off!” While well delivered from Davis, it would be nice to be shown more than told. This in no way takes you out of the film or detracts from the empowerment that it delivers.
Widows proves that heist films can have layered meaning and story to them. It’s a good night out for the ladies, date night, and even time for the fellas! However you see it, make sure it’s in a theater. It will be well worth the money spent!
Rating: A
"Furious 7" Review: Film Won't Disappoint Fans!
It’s one thing to go into a movie to be entertained, but there’s something to be said about movies that you go into with baggage and expectations. With “Furious 7”, the untimely death of Paul Walker casts a shadow on the film, but doesn’t eclipse it. In fact, for die hard fans we got what we wanted; it’s the same high-octane, unbelievable stunts that we’ve come to love, tie-ins to prior films, and the proper send off to a major character in the franchise.
Picking up where “Fast & Furious 6” ended, we get one of the best slow reveal openings I’ve seen in a while. Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham) makes an oath to his unconscious brother Owen (Luke Shaw) to finish the job he started in putting the “family” in body bags. Deckard, of course, is ten times smarter and more ruthless than his brother. He’s an ex-black ops asset that was so skilled he turned into a ghost after his own government tried to terminate him due to all of the sensitive intel he knew. Deckard gets straight to it! He kills Han (Sung Kang) (as seen at the end of FF6), pays a visit to Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) to secure the locations of Dominic Toretto’s (Vin Diesel) Crew, and sends a bomb to Dom’s old house.
With that, the gang is pulled back into the life. For Brian (Paul Walker), it’s a welcomed reunion as he “misses the bullets” as a now domesticated father and husband to Mia (Jordana Brewster). It’s the fine line between the old life, and new life for Brian that gives the film some of it’s emotional gravity. For Letty (Michelle Rodriguez), Tej (Ludacris), and Roman (Tyrese Gibson) it’s another day in the office.
How do you catch a ghost? Enter Mr. Nobody (Kurt Russell), something of a governmental ghost himself, who has been chasing Shaw for years. Mr. Nobody guarantees to help the family take down Shaw if they secure a much sought after, newly developed, global spy application called “God’s Eye”.
As per usual Dom’s crew gets strung along to do someone else’s dirty work in order to get their own personal needs met. The most annoying thing is that with each victory or setback, Shaw turns up like the kid copying off of your homework. Even with that, it doesn’t take away from the intense weight that each heist, fight, or stunt carries in the film.
*Spoiler Alert: Paul Walker Homage- skip the next paragraph*
I hate doing spoilers, but the construction of the Brian/Paul Walker send off was extremely well done and worth breaking down. First, the subtext of the entire ending was that while Brian is saying goodbye to Dom, the cast didn’t get to say goodbye to their friend in real life. As Dom pulls up to a crossroad, Brian joins him dressed in white and in a white car (no coincidence). Reminiscent of the two racing each other in the past, they both take off for a stretch, as Dom’s voiceover tells a story of their unbroken bond. The camera then cranes up as Brian’s car pulls off to the left from the main road. We follow Brian’s car for a while and then lift to the heavens as the screen dissolves to white. It’s an absolutely majestic way of saying so much without being on the nose, and a great homage to Paul Walker.
*End Spoiler*
“Furious 7” will not disappoint and it continues the new legacy of over the top action, hard nosed characters, and emotional beats to match. I would love to be in the writer’s room as they discuss “what could we do to top the last film and push this even further?”! It seems we’ll find out that answer in the 8th installment. For now, the true fans of the franchise will soak up and appreciate the beautiful film we were given in spite of the tragic real life occurrences in “Furious 7”. That has to be commended and respected!
Rating: B+