Furious 7 MPAA Rating: PG-13 Entertainment: +2 Content: -3

Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Dwayne Johnson, Michelle Rodriguez and Kurt Russell head a huge and familiar cast. . Action/adventure. Directed by James Wan.

FILM SYNOPSIS: In this 7th edition of the Fast and Furious franchise, Deckard Shaw seeks revenge against Dominic Toretto and his family for the death of his brother. (Paul Walker was killed in a car accident before filming completed.)

PREVIEW REVIEW: There’s nothing like paying tribute to an action star killed in a car accident quite like a film that features countless car wrecks and explosions. In fairness to the studio, what else are they going to do? Most of the film was completed and it cost a lot – they gotta make it back.

So while we chomp away at our popcorn as the improbable and impossible muscle-action sequences bombard us in this the last of the Fast and Furious franchise (?), we can’t help but feel somewhat melancholy concerning the late Paul Walker. He had a good screen presence and he was considered a good guy in real life (despite his penchant for fast driving on public streets). His death, however, serves to remind us all that life is fleeting and uncertain, even for the fast and famous.

As to the film, it is excessive and overly familiar, but I get the impression that’s what viewers of this action series are looking for. For the ladies, there are hard/hard bodies to look at, while we guys get to feast our eyes on hard/soft bodies, and, of course, muscle cars that defy physics. Its message of family-and-friends-are-important that permeates the series is here as well. That said, the audience is beaten up nearly as much as the cast by the finale. It’s not fueled by plot or dialogue, just testosterone and a final lesson, if anybody is willing to learn it: only drive dangerously in the movies.

Preview Reviewer: Phil Boatwright
Distributor: Universal