Fast & Furious 8

THIS is director Gray’s first movie in the Fast & Furious franchise. While he has done some good work in the past ( Straight Out of Compton, The Italian Job), expectations are still high for this eighth instalment.

Still, I suppose there is only so much he could do with this hugelysuccessful franchise that was built around fast cars, skimpily-dressed babes, lack of a plausible storyline, and nothing much else.

The movie begins with Dominic Toretto aka Dom (Diesel) and Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) settled down comfortably in Cuba.

However, a mysterious woman, Cipher (Theron), breaks up this idyllic world when she shows Dom something on a smartphone, and he immediately becomes her lapdog.

While in a mission in Berlin with lawman Luke Hobbs (Johnson) and his crew, Dom betrays them all and Hobbs ends up in jail.

They soon discover that Dom is now working with Cipher.

As they try to stop him and save him at the same time, viewers can enjoy lots of high speed car chases, seemingly endless destruction of vehicles and buildings, lots of references to ‘family’, and no decent plotline.

Although the movie already has

Vin Diesel, Charlize Theron and Dwayne Johnson Director: F. Gary Gray E-Value: 7 Acting: 5 Plot: 5

a huge regular cast – Tyrese Gibson, Chris ‘Ludacris’ Bridges, Kurt Russell and Jason Statham – there are also new additions such as Helen Mirren and Scott Eastwood.

Since no one watches this movie series for character development, casting is not and will never be an issue.

That being said, Theron does try to rise above the script as a cold- blooded villain, and Statham shares great chemistry with a new co-star in the film’s final moments.

As a whole, it is something fans of this franchise will embrace and make it another box-office smash.

It is what it is – a smashing, fun popcorn flick.