CinemaNerdz

The Preview Reel: The Fate of the Furious

Scott Davis
The Preview Reel

Welcome to this week’s “Preview Reel” column, where we look at the week’s upcoming wide release movies. Last weekend saw a couple of holdovers in The Boss Baby and Beauty and the Beast take the top two spots, but this week is a completely different story. One of the biggest movies of the year comes out this Easter weekend with The Fate of the Furious. It will no doubt dominate the box office (every other studio ran and hid from this release date), but let’s check out if the eighth installment of this popular franchise is worth the trip to the cineplexes.

 

The Fate of the Furious

What we are excited about: If you have seen any of the recent Fast films, you have a pretty good idea what you are in for. The film series has remarkably transformed from a reasonably budgeted street racing series to a mega-budgeted action tent pole. The last three films have featured some of the craziest stunts and action scenes of the past decade, and whether you enjoy them for their pure nuttiness or think it is all just nonsense will determine your enjoyment of the franchise. We are not here for the story or the acting of Vin Diesel, we are here to see what crazy action sequence they can cook up for us this time around. The Fate of the Furious is directed by F. Gary Gray, who directed the superb Straight Outta Compton, and adds Helen Mirren and Charlize Theron, which are all huge plusses in our book.

What we are worried about: The whole “Dom betraying his family” storyline seems a little odd coming off the very emotional ending of Furious 7. We have no idea where this can go, which has us a little worried. The franchise is at its best when it just puts its characters in ridiculous situations and we kind of forget about the plot. If we are too focused on a convoluted storyline, we might not enjoy the action sequences as much. It’s good for a franchise to take risks, but we’re wondering if this risk will be worth it in the long run.

The Buzz: Fast & Furious has been one of the top franchises in Hollywood over the last decade and the buzz has been enormous for F8. The buzz isn’t as big as it was for Furious 7, mainly because of that one being Paul Walker’s last performance in the series. Domestically, the movie should open between $110-$120 million, which would be behind Furious 7’s $147.2 million debut. The film has received mostly positive reviews, but they are not as glowing as the previous installments which might hurt the film’s box-office longevity.

Final Thoughts: You’ve either bought in on this series or are scratching your head wondering why everyone is so crazy about it. We’re in, so we’ll be there this weekend and for the next installment (which we hope will be in space).

Scott Davis

Scott Davis is a recent graduate of Oakland University where he earned a degree in journalism. He worked for the student newspaper on campus, The Oakland Post, where he became the paper's managing editor. He also earned a minor in Cinema Studies at OU. Scott enjoys all things film and TV related, especially the blockbuster kind. He might be the biggest Christopher Nolan fan you know.
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