Furious 7

“Ohana means family. Family means nobody gets left behind.” It’s hard to say whether the screenwriters of this soap-operatic action franchise are fans of Lilo & Stitch, but they definitely transformed that film’s motto into the defining principle of the Fast & Furious series. In the seventh instalment about family, not only does absolutely every character on the franchise team yammer on about it, but so does the main antagonist, which opens up endless possibilities for more and more sequels in the future. Furthermore, we can apply the quote to the way in which the series bid farewell to the late Paul Walker, which goes against the expectations of supposedly seasoned viewers. Otherwise, replacement of the director brought forth very few changes (which raises the question of who serves as the showrunner in major film series) and instead rather intensified existing tendencies. Though the film has officially merged with the Forza Motorsport video-game brand, it is still firmly rooted in GTA. In addition to the general over-the-top comic-book stylisation, this is apparent mainly in the narrative, which this time is constructed according to an adventure formula whereby in order to achieve a particular goal, it is necessary to obtain the means to do so, which are connected with the fulfilment of a number of secondary tasks. The alternation of action scenes and melodrama continues in Furious 7 and again the non-action scenes serve as a radical retarder in every sense of the word. Nevertheless, the fountain of blather about family has already taken on an utterly absurd dimension, especially in combination with the ridiculously ripped Diesel and cartoonishly executed scenes. The formulaic nature of the film goes beyond the boundary of insipid soap operas into the realm of hysterical camp, which, however, adds to its fun factor. After all, how seriously Furious 7 should be taken is laid bare in the opening scene, which reliably divides the audience into those who will focus on realism, logic, causality and other things that are out of place here, and those who are in tune with the film’s mix of outlandishly overwrought pathos, kitsch and delirious ostentation. The previous instalment in the series had already gone beyond Bond-esque spectacle to surreal bombast in terms of the conceptualisation and stylisation of action scenes, and that trend continues here. Unfortunately, that includes the desperate climax swimming in CGI. Luckily, we can understand it as material fatigue following much more imaginative previous scenes, both in terms of the action itself and the shooting thereof. The fetishistic details of shifting gears and stomping on the pedals were transformed into a spectacular sequence of impressions with a throbbing cadence of a few windows. This time, the camera remains stable in the details and, conversely, takes greater risks in larger shots, which is beneficial to the dynamics of the sequences. But on the other hand, as has already been mentioned, the change of director did not change the direction of the series. There is no ground-breaking remodelling as in the fifth instalment; instead, only the formula established by that film is varied and a few nuances are added. Whereas comic-book movies strive for some overlaps and emotional swings, Fast & Furious is pure escapist popcorn that is entertaining as both a silly action flick and campy melodrama, and imminently forgettable. (08/07/2016) (less) (more)

Those magnificent men in their flying machines. The following review is packed with spoilers and is somewhat misleading, given that I have never once seen this film in a “normal” cinema (the first time in IMAX, where the film is bigger, louder and not very clear, and the second time in 4DX, which gives new meaning to the term “cinema of attractions” and thanks to which the film is clearer, as you orient yourself in the space not only by sound and abrupt cuts, but also based on your own movement). Furious 7 aroused in me a mixture of fascination and disgust at its masculine bombast. All of the women in the film boundlessly admire “their” perfect men, who represent an essential condition for their career growth (Elena and Hobbs), family happiness (Mia and Brian) or finding their own identity (Letty and Dom). The men make all of the decisions and advise the women on what they should do to achieve contentment. The women obey them and are willing to die for them. The female characters are either confused and indecisive (Letty), reconciled to the role of wife and mother (Mia), somewhat hysterical (Ramsey) or aggressively masculine (Kara). Beautiful female bodies are exhibited as objects to be admired, which is most apparent in the case of Ramsey, who in the climax is transformed into a “hot potato”, i.e. bait for the bad guys (in the interest of objectivity, however, it is necessary to add that her hacking skills are also necessary for the execution of the plan). ___ The film’s creators don’t subvert the basic division of gender roles, as they still make it quite clear that they know how to create a surreal universe and spend the whole time treading the line between cool action badassery for real men, in which close-ups of perfectly shaped female derrieres serve solely for the pleasure of the male eye, and a self-aware parody of genre conventions, in which a slow-motion shot of a sexy female hacker emerging from the waves is followed by commentary on male voyeurism and “womanising”. In comparison with the previous films in the franchise, there is more of everything: scenes in which the film reflects (at least in the dialogue) the stupidity of the crew’s plans; the application of the “logic” that if using force is not an option, then use even more force; the childish joy of destroying precious things; superhuman strength; the indestructibility and endurance of the characters (breaking a cast by flexing biceps will be the scene of the year); product placement (a bucket full Coronas on ice); stylistic excesses (the clash between Statham and Diesel is like a duel between Olympian gods); and the hackneyed nature of the archetypes that the film works with (the alpha male, the sexy hacker). Furious 7 thus puts you in the position of someone who doesn’t understand the exaggeration if you don’t ridicule the film’s silliness. ___ For understandable reasons, the film loses its sense of detached humour in most of the non-action scenes with Paul Walker. However, they are also thought-provoking in the context of masculine melodrama (see westerns and the films of Jean-Pierre Melville and John Woo), placing heterosexual male interpersonal bonds at least on the same level as the love of a woman. The narrative structure is particularly problematic, though not in an inspiring way. Statham wants to take down the gang around Dom from the start, yet the plot is built on the team’s efforts to track down and capture the main villain. Mr. Nobody’s isn’t of much help in the end, except to delay the final destruction of L.A. and give Kurt Russell the opportunity to shoot with both hands. The positive characters don’t even manage to catch Statham off guard, which is apparently what Mr. Nobody was supposed to help with. However, he locates them without the help of the God’s Eye and surprises them three times. The episodic dramaturgy of “action scene A leads to action scene B, action scene B leads to action scene C, action scene C leads to action scene D” is tediously monotonous and indicates screenwriting laziness rather than an attempt to give the narrative a certain rhythm. On the other hand, we don’t have to rack our brains over how B connects with D (because that’s immediately obvious) or whether C will be followed by a return to A (at one point, the film even plays around with its straightforwardness when, to the strains of ominous music during the handover of the God’s Eye, it insinuates that Mr. Nobody might be a traitor), and we can enjoy the rapid sequence of the offered attractions, which are tied together by the fact that they negate Brian’s warning at the beginning of the film – “cars don’t fly”. Furious 7 is a film that’s proud of the fact that cars fly in it all the time. 75% (03/31/2015) (less) (more)