The Fate of the Furious aka The Fast and the Furious 8 (2017)

(On Cable TV, January 2018) So, it’s January first and what better way to start the movie-seeing year than with the latest instalment of the reliably ludicrous Fast and the Furious franchise? The Fate of the Furious doubles down on the increasing madness of the series, which means that the film starts with a street race in which the protagonist’s vehicle catches fire well before the finishing line and ends with a face-off between fast cars and a nuclear submarine. Yes, it’s that kind of movie. Once again, we’re back in the world of high-end cyber-espionage, with street racers saving the world through various heroics. There are even plot twists, what with series protagonist Vin Diesel flirting with the dark side by dint of manipulation. The character motivations don’t always make sense, the action beats are far-fetched and the plot is an excuse to get from one set piece to another, but that’s the price to pay for seeing Jason Statham joining the good guys, spectacular action sequences and enough self-assured movie mayhem to remind us why this mix of comedy, action and outright absurdity works so well. The most interesting sequence comes midway through the movie, as the newest self-driving technologies and the ever-rising possibilities of hacking combine to make New York a playground for vehicular mayhem, all the way to making cars rains down from above. Great stuff, and a series highlight. Otherwise, what you get is what you’ve been getting since the series pivot Fast Five: attractive actors, beautiful cars, big dumb (but savvy) action, globe-spanning locations, a focus on family that now approaches self-parody and enough dangling threads that sequels aren’t just possible, but expected. (Although the most recent news out of the franchise are of feuds that don’t bode well for the entire cast returning.)  I’ve been a fan of the franchise since the very first one (although the second film sorely tested my faith) and The Fate of the Furious hasn’t changed my mind. Bring on Fast Nine…

(Second viewing, Streaming, December 2025) One of the big questions I had while undertaking a marathon re-watch of the entire Fast and Furious series was — when did it peak? Everyone can point at Fast Five as when it got really good, but when did it reach the diminishing-returns stage? While I would have sworn that the decline began after The Fate of the Furious, a re-watch sets me straight: While this is a perfectly good instalment, it’s also noticeably less successful than the previous film. Part of my enthusiasm for the film can be traced to fun casting and one memorable action sequence set in New York City (plus a great opener in Havana), but a second look highlights just how much clunkier the film is. Diesel’s face-heel turn isn’t much fun, and F. Gary Gray’s direction is noticeably less enjoyable. (The film’s production history, clearer now than in 2017, suggests that Gray was out of his depth at the helm of such a big-budget production.) The less-than-ideal bits can be trivial (like Charlize Theron’s terrible hairstyle, which would become a series motif), but they all add up, and the underwhelming finale in which the racers take down a submarine may have been fun to imagine but doesn’t equal the conclusion of the other better films in the series. The Fate of the Furious is still quite a bit of fun to watch, obviously — but it’s a clear step down from the apex of the cycle.