Start your engines, feel the vibration of the beast in your control and prepare to unleash, Furious 7 reviewed.

As Furious 7 comes roaring into theaters we can’t help but feel a pang of sadness, with Paul Walker’s death came a major loss, even though 85% of his scenes were shot. His character ‘Brian’ was such a central piece in this saga that it just hurts to even think of the franchise moving on. Alas we have Furious 7, Walker’s last movie, and the movie that will reveal to us the fate of his character. Get those engines running, it’s time to open this movie and review all its elements.

The Fast and Furious franchise has been a long one, one that began back in 2001. The franchise has spanned 7 movies (and counting), introduced tons of characters, brought many actors into the light and garnered over 2.7 billion dollars at the box office in total. The movies starting with illegal street racing has moved on to heists, but one thing the franchise has always focused on and constantly reminds of is the theme ‘Family’. F&F (short for Fast and Furious) plays big, with stunts that defy physics and characters that are extremely emotionally invested. With a main change in story brought in after the fifth installment. Enter Furious 7, the latest entry.

When we last left off, the gang had just taken down Owen Shaw and his team, where after Dom’s gang are no longer fugitives. Owen Shaw’s brother Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham) vowing revenge on Dom’s gang kills Han, effectively linking the third installment (The Fast and The Furious: Tokyo Drift) which places this movie after the third, and the fourth, fifth and the sixth movie taking place between the second and the third timeline wise. A move that deserves praise.

This marks the first film in the franchise directed by James Wan, whose forte was mainly horror movies, and widely known for ‘Saw’, ‘Insidious’ and ‘The Conjuring’. And does he do a good job? He does, granted that with the loss of Paul Walker there was major weight on his shoulder to move on with the movie, a herculean task indeed. Yet Wan manages mostly tell a story that works with a screenplay from Chris Morgan, credited for writing most of the movies in the franchise. The writing of the movie is cliché ridden but it works, which is why this saga is immensely popular. And credit goes where credit goes, Walker’s exit from the franchise is beautifully handled. Walker’s brothers helped film the rest of his parts in the movie, with Walker’s face being added on to them through CGI in post-production, was it noticeable? Both yes and no.

An aspect that can be commended in this franchise is its score done by Brian Tyler who worked previous on three other films in this franchise, well known for his work on, ‘Iron Man 3’, ‘Thor: The Dark World’ and the upcoming ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’ which we’re yet to see.

All in all Furious 7 works for what it is and has been for a while now, stitching together a tale of family which includes a plethora of fast cars and insane stunts.

Furious 7 is currently screening at Majestic Platinum, Empire Gold, Empire Delux, Savoy 3D and Liberty Lite's Cinema for those craving the adrenaline rush surely ensued.

Reviewed by Aasif Faiz