I wrap up my Fast and Furious deep dive by watching The Fate of the Furious. I’m going to watch Hobbs & Shaw at some point but I’m not rushing to see it for this series of blog posts, as I understand that the story isn’t linked to the main Fast and Furious thread at all and doesn’t even reference any of the other main characters.

I’ve not seen F8 before, so I was intrigued about what the Furiverse would be like without Paul Walker.

Here are my live reactions as I watched it.

  • We learn that Dom has a cousin? And he lives in Cuba? It’s funny that we keep hearing him go on about family all the time but we’ve never heard him mention a cousin before
  • Made me laugh that every argument has to be settled with a car race, and the bearded hustler guy just so happens to have the fastest car on the island too
  • Why was there such a massive crowd watching a car get towed?
  • This mile long race is happening in the longest mile in the world! Classic Fast and Furious. Reminds me of the behemoth runway in Fast and Furious 6
  • It’s about 20 mins in and I’m just not feeling this one yet. Weird that the guy who was scamming Dom’s cousin suddenly seems like he becomes a nice guy. And the whole thing about Hobbs with the school kids takes too long and is too comedic. Maybe it wasn’t all in the theatrical cut. I’m watching the extended director’s cut
  • It’s a bit of a coincidence that they put Hobbs in the prison cell directly across from Shaw. I’m sure Shaw would be in a more secure wing or something
  • It’s the guy who played Tormund in Game of Thrones! Awesome. Love him. That’s two GoT alumni in the series now
  • The escape from the prison with Hobbs and Shaw was pretty cool
  • It’s hilarious that Roman just missed the cut for the Interpol Top 10 Most Wanted
  • I know we’re meant to stay in the dark about why Dom turned, but c’mon Dom, at least give Letty some sort of sign!
  • Dom’s got a son?! Dom’s got new family! That was a nice surprise. But I just hope Letty is ok with it, as I believe she was asking Dom about kids earlier in the film. I was convinced that whatever Cipher showed Dom on the iPhone had to do with Brian and Mia somehow. But I guess it was actually a picture of his son. It’s just strange how Dom isn’t even giving the rest of the gang a clue at all. More dramatic for the movie of course, but c’mon!
  • Dom’s necklace has had quite a journey. I hope someone has made an infographic or something tracking where the necklace has been. It’s amazing it hasn’t gotten lost (although that’s easier now that it’s got a tracker on it)
  • I kind of like how Hobbs and Shaw start to kind of get along, but I don’t like how we are almost meant to somehow forget that Shaw killed Han. I don’t think anyone would forgive him for that
  • Helen Mirren’s character seems a bit cheesy and her accent just seems over the top. And how did Dom know about her? It’s good casting but I just found her accent too exaggerated
  • I’m not quite feeling the whole presence of Little Nobody. I don’t think he’s required. Scrappy Doo is just a bit annoying and I wonder whether someone like that, or that young, would really be in that position. Even Mr Nobody is taken a bit less seriously in this film, which I don’t really like
  • The ‘car zombies’ and the car harpooning scenes are pretty well done. There’s a bit where the cars screech down a road and slam into the side of the wall as they turn the corner, where they look just like a screaming horde of fast zombies
  • The scene where Elena gets shot is pretty powerful
  • Roman is such a liability, bringing an orange Lamborghini to an ice mission. And they’re all ribbing him about it whilst getting chased by huge guns! It’s all good though. Classic Roman banter
  • Great to see Roman getting his moment to shine. I call that his Legolas moment. “No.11 my ass.” 
  • Owen Shaw! Wasn’t expecting that. I thought he was on life support at the start of Fast & Furious 7 but I think earlier in this film he is actually referenced as being alive but in prison? I wonder how he got out
  • Rico Santos and Leo Tego make a cameo! That was cool
  • Helen Mirren is Shaw’s mum?!
  • And now Shaw is saving babies? Not sure how I feel about the development of Shaw’s character. I think I kind of like how he’s starting to become a hero, but I just still can’t forgive the killing of Han. Most of the baddies have all turned out to come and help the team. I wonder if Cipher will join them in a future movie!
  • And now that nasty guy from Cuba is suddenly totally in Dom’s pocket and they’re best buddies? It was quite cool seeing Dom’s plan revealed though
  • The fight scene with the baby is kind of scary, worrying, unrealistic, shocking but also bloody good fun
  • “We’re gonna need a bigger truck”. Always good to get a Jaws line inserted
  • I have to admit the last half hour of this film is pretty great. All out action and the characters are all given their moments to shine
  • As cheesy and unrealistic as it is, that moment where they shield Dom from the explosion with their cars kinda got me
  • Nice New York rooftop pad. Probably even bigger than the Friend’s apartment inside!
  • When Shaw handed over Dom’s baby that would have been the perfect time just to say “By the way, I’m sorry for Han”. That would have possibly been enough for most fans to get on board with Shaw
  • I could see it coming that he called the baby Brian. But isn’t that weird if the character of Brian is actually still alive in their universe? Brian is his brother-in-law’s name. Bit weird perhaps
  • Also weird that Deckard Shaw is sitting saying grace with them all
  • But overall I quite liked the ending

Deleted scenes
Two of the main deleted scenes that I found online were the full versions of the prison escape scene and also the fight carrying the baby on the plane. These were both in the Directors Extended Cut that I watched, so there was nothing new there. Definitely worth watching the Extended Cut just to see these fight scenes though.

Main characters
Dom
Letty
Roman
Tej
Hobbs
Ramsey
Elena
Deckard
Shaw
Mr Nobody
Little Nobody
Cipher
Mrs Shaw
Owen Shaw (cameo)
Rico Santos (cameo)
Leo Tego (cameo)

Corona scenes – 0

Corona references – 0

Most memorable scene

  • The scene where they all harpoon Dom’s car might be one that sticks in a lot of people’s minds
  • The scene where Deckard Shaw is fighting his way through the plane with Dom’s baby in tow is pretty memorable too
  • But I would say the scene that the majority of people would associate with this film is probably the one where they are racing across the ice and the submarine breeches the surface behind them

Best stunt
To be honest there was no one set-piece stunt that really stood out in this film. At least not in the same way that the 5th, 6th and 7th films had. Here are a couple that spring to mind though.

  • The shot of the zombie cars screeching round the corner did have a bit of a Wow effect on me, but I imagine it was 100% CG, so that pushes it slightly down from the top spot here for me
  • The sub rising out of the water and sending the baddie vehicles flying is probably the stunt shot of the film

Quote of the movie

  • “No.11 my ass” was a classic Roman line
  • “We’re going to need a bigger truck” is also a good reference
  • But for me it has to be… “First time I saw my son… was behind a bulletproof glass. When he reached me, I couldn’t hold on. It’s the worst pain I ever felt.”

Score – 8/10
I enjoyed it but I just didn’t feel this movie as much. I nearly gave it a 7.5. Sure, it didn’t have Paul Walker, and Dom wasn’t really Dom for most of the movie, but it was more than that. It just felt quite distant or false or cheesy or something for a lot of it. It did have a great last half hour but in general the movie didn’t quite feel it had the Fast and Furious DNA running through it fully. Still great fun though.

Ranking
I’m going to save my final ranking for a separate blog post where I talk about the series as a whole.