The Fate of the Furious Review

Who would have guessed that a film about hot heads who love to drive cars would spawn a franchise? Let alone eight films which are up there with Star Wars and Harry Potter. I'm of course talking about The Fast and the Furious franchise, which has to crank out films 2001. So going into the film, you know what to expect. You expect shiny cars, pretty girls, and fast action. After seeing the film that has not changed but I'm happy with what I got.

The film starts off with Dom (Vin Diesel) and Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) on their honeymoon in Cuba as they and are ready to settle down. Then a mysterious woman named Cipher (Charlize Theron) forces Dom to work for her terrorist organization and betray his family. So now it is up to Letty, Luke Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson), former enemy Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham), and the rest of the gang to stop Dom and Cipher. 

The best part of the film is the setup. The big mystery of the film is why Dom all of a sudden turned on his friends and if the gang can stop their former leader and Cipher. This leads to some great build up and suspense which comes to a head in the climax.

The performances are also serviceable. Vin Diesel and Dwayne Johnson reprise their roles as good-hearted guys who you probably do not want to get into a fight with. Charlize Theron is a lot of fun as a conniving and calculating James Bond-type villain. Tyrese Gibson and Ludacris serve as the comic relief and have a lot of funny moments. Jason Statham also returns but this time plays a good guy. The best scenes in the movie are when Statham and Dwayne Johnson are arguing with each other. It is like Woody and Buzz Lightyear except with swearing. In fact, I wish we would have gotten more scenes with them.

The film can also be entertainingly over the top. Even though there are some really dark moments, there are a lot of moments that are so over the top that you help but be entertained by them. And in a franchise as silly as The Fast and the Furious, they do not feel out of place. One example is a scene in which Jason Statham is fighting Cipher’s henchmen while carrying a baby. I am not joking. 

There are some issues with the film. We are introduced to a new character named Eric Reisner/Little Nobody (Scott Eastwood) who I am guessing is Paul Walker’s replacement. Even though he is not a terrible character, I did find kind of useless and he does not have the likability that Paul Walker brought to Brian O’Conner.

There are also many moments that force you to take a leap in logic. There is a scene in which Vin Diesel asks someone for a favor in 5 minutes while not being seen by Cipher, who is following him through every single security camera. You would think that there is no way possible to do all this in 5 minutes. Not to mention he somehow gets a friend to help him out and I am not sure when he would have the time to contact him or figure out a plan to hide from Cipher. 

Like in every Fast and the Furious film you get a car chases that make Monster Jam look like Go Kart racing, hard action, and improbable escapes that would make the Avengers scratch their heads. There is also a message about togetherness and family and togetherness just like in the last Fast and the Furious film. If your someone who wants a film that is dark and realistic, this is not the film for you. But if you want a film that is silly and over the top while  being silly at the same time, then this is the film for you. 

Power Rangers Review

‘Power Rangers’ is the latest film in the trend of making a movie based on childhood nostalgic properties while aiming at a PG-13 audience. Example include Transformers, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, G.I. Joe, and now Power Rangers. For the record, I did not grow up with Power Rangers, so I went into this film with no real expectations. It also did not help that the trailers look pretty mediocre to me. Having seen the film, I will say that the film is better than I expected. However, that is the best thing I can say about the film.

The film is about 5 average teens named Jason, Kimberly, Billy, Trini, and Ludi who are considered outcasts in the small town of Angel Grove. One day when they come together at a gold mine, they obtain powers after discovering 5 Power Coins. As a result, they are each chosen to be the Power Rangers by Zordon (Brian Cranston). At the same time, the evil Rita Repulsa (Elizabeth Banks) has reemerged and is planning to destroy Angel Grove and eventually the world. So now it is up to our heroes to prepare and learn how to fight as a team.

The biggest surprise is that acting and characters in the film are really good. Each of the actors playing the Power Rangers convincingly plays teenagers who struggle with real life issues like autism and sexual orientation. This helps make each of the main character more likable and relatable. Brian Cranston is also fun as Zordon even though he looks like a speaker in Dr. Dre beats commercial. 

Each of the 5 main characters had great chemistry together and as a result, you buy their camaraderie. They even individual go through their own character arcs. Each character has their own personality and issues and by the end of the film, each character discovers something about themselves. My favorite scene is when they are at a campfire and telling each other their deepest secrets. For a moment I had a flashback to the Breakfast Club.  

However, the film has quite a few issues. One is that the film can be tonally inconsistent. In one scene the movie will be dark and grim, and then in other, it would be silly like the original TV show. We get a scene of a fisherman’s funeral after being murdered by Rita Repulsa and then we get a scene that has a joke about a cow’s genitalia. 

Then there is Elizabeth Banks who seems to have a blast playing the over the top and evil Rita Repulsa. In another movie like Flash Gordon, I could see Rita Repulsa as an effective and fun villain. But in this movie, which does a great job at showing the serious and personal drama that each of the main characters faces, it feels really out of place.

Also, those people who want to see the Power Rangers fight might be a bit disappointed since the Power Rangers costumes do not show up until the end of the film. Most of the movie is spent on developing our main characters to fight as a team. While that is not conceptually a bad idea I do believe the film does drag this part of the film bit too long. The film also repeatedly uses the Zack Snyder slow motion effect which gets really tedious and distracting. 

Overall I cannot say that ‘Power Rangers’ is a bad film. It does a good job at developing its characters and has some really solid acting. However, it suffers from tonal inconstancies and the story dragging a bit. I also am a bit confused on who this movie is aimed at. It is definitely not aimed kids who are fans of Power Rangers since it is PG-13 and it does not seem to aim at hardcore adult Power Rangers fans since the Power Rangers barely show up. So I would say if you really want to see this, give it a watch. You could do worse.