‘Furious’ ditches logic for entertainment

THE Fate of the Furious doesn’t need your stinkin’ laws.

Speed limits? Optional. Ditto, gravity. Only one unwritten commandment of silly action moviemaking – thou shalt not exceed two hours – goes unheeded. As usual with this unstoppable franchise – now on its eighth instalment – it all works somehow.

It’s been 16 years since car-obsessed thief/mechanic Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) first revved an engine on-screen, and a lot has changed since then. Dom is finished with his criminal ways, and he’s lost his best friend (Paul Walker) to retirement. But Dom’s still an acrobatic speed demon behind the wheel, and he wastes no time showing off.

On his honeymoon with his longtime love, Letty (Michelle Rodriguez), in Cuba, Dom winds up challenging the man with the fastest car in Havana to a race. Naturally, Dom wins by a hair, even though he’s driving a hastily souped-up jalopy.

Dom then abandons Letty after being recruited by the evil computer hacker Cipher (Charlize Theron), a new character who wears Metallica T-shirts and has long blond dreadlocks. But cultural appropriation is the least of her sins. In a sign that the “Furious” franchise is taking tips from Marvel, the sadistic supervillain seeks world domination.

Although Dom has perfectly noble reasons for joining forces with her the character’s inner turmoil means that Diesel gets to flex his acting muscles for a change. That’s not always a good thing.

But back to the action: Cipher must be stopped, and there’s only one group to do it. Enigmatic special agent Mr Nobody (Kurt Russell) recruits Dom’s old crew, including Letty; Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson); Roman (Tyrese Gibson); and computer nerds Tej and Ramsey (Chris “Ludacris” Bridges and Nathalie Emmanuel). With each movie, the crew gains a few allies. This time, it’s one-time villain Deckard (Jason Statham) and underling (Scott Eastwood).

It’s all about action, which doesn’t disappoint. Here, self-driving cars rain down on city streets from a multistorey parking garage; Deckard parkours out of a maximum-security prison. The pièce de résistance involves a formation of cars atop an ice field, trying to outrun a submarine. As usual, the chases are gorgeously choreographed – and utterly nonsensical.

On top of the clunky dialogue and absurd plot twists, such moments suggest that the franchise – which already has two more instalments planned – peaked three movies ago, with 2011’s Fast Five. Even so, “Fate” gives fans of the franchise exactly what they want, provided they can ditch logic as easily as the movie does. – The Washington Post