"THE FATE OF THE FURIOUS" (2017) Review
When I first learned that Universal Pictures planned to release an eighth film for its FAST AND FURIOUS franchise, a collective groan swelled within me. I was not in the mood for this franchise to continue. Hell, I was not in the mood for a seventh film, two years ago. And to be perfectly frank, I was not that impressed by that seventh film, "FURIOUS 7". In fact, I was willing to delay my viewing of this latest film, until it was released on DVD. However, a family member was determined to see "THE FATE OF THE FURIOUS" in the theaters. And . . . you can assume the rest.
Directed by F. Gary Gray ("STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON"), "THE FATE OF THE FURIOUS" began with veteran street car racer Dominic ("Dom") Torretto and his wife, Letty Ortiz, enjoying their long-delayed honeymoon in Havana, Cuba. After winning a local street race, Dom is approached by an American woman named Cypher. It turns out that she is a cyberterrorist who has mysteriously coerced Dom into working for her. When Dom, Letty and their friends are recruited by Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) agent Luke Hobbs to help him retrieve an EMP device from a military outpost in Berlin, Dom betrays the others by stealing the device for Cypher. Hobbs is arrested and locked up in the same high-security prison he had helped imprison Deckard Shaw in "FURIOUS 7". Another character from the seventh film, After escaping, both are recruited by intelligence operative Frank Petty/Mr. Nobody and his protégé, Eric Reisner/Little Nobody, to help the team find Dom and capture Cipher.
"THE FATE OF THE FURIOUS" was not perfect. Like many other films in the FAST AND FURIOUS franchise, it was filled with silly dialogue and over-the-top machismo, thanks to the characters portrayed by Vin Diesel, Dwayne Johnson and Jason Stratham. Now, I realize that the franchise originated with the theme of street car racing. But what is really necessary to start the movie off with a street race in Havana, Cuba? Perhaps I am being a killjoy, but I cannot help but feel that Dom Toretto is getting a touched too old to be competing in street races. I am also curious about another matter. Is Dom of Italian descent, Spanish descent or both? Because I was surprised to learn that he and Letty were visiting his cousin in Cuba. Cuba?
There were other aspects of the film that I either did not like or rubbed me the wrong way. One, the Elena Neves character portrayed by Elsa Pataky proved to be the plot device used by Cipher to blackmail Dom into assisting her. As it turned out, she and Dom had conceived a son before the events of "FAST AND FURIOUS 6". He never found out about the kid until this movie. Yet, the movie never revealed if Luke Hobbs had ever learned about the baby, considering he and Elena were partners at the DDS between the events of FAST AND FURIOUS 6" and "FURIOUS 7". Frankly, I am confused. Speaking of the DDS, have Dom, Letty and the others become private contractors for the DDS? I was surprised that Hobbs had automatically recruited the group to help him steal that EMP device in Berlin without offering them something in return.
Otherwise, "THE FATE OF THE FURIOUS" turned out to be a pretty decent movie. I was more impressed by it than the previous film. Chris Morgan really stepped up his game by creating a surprisingly original tale in which Dom found himself opposing his friends . . . against his will. This twist in the narrative not only provided something new in the franchise, but also dialed down the machismo aspect of the Dom Toretto character and made him a more ambiguous character . . . well, at least until the film's last act.
One cannot talk about a FAST AND FURIOUS movie without bringing up the topic of action sequences. And "THE FATE OF THE FURIOUS" featured some pretty first-rate action sequences. Mind you, I was not that impressed with the Havana street race and the Berlin sequence. But I did enjoy the movie's final action sequence in Russia in which Letty, Roman and the others attempt to stop Cipher and Dom from disabling and hijacking a nuclear submarine to trigger a nuclear war. I also enjoyed how Morgan interacted this sequence with Deckard and Owen Shaw's attempt to save Dom's son from Cipher. But for me, the best action sequence occurred in New York City where Letty, Roman and the others try to stop Dom and Cipher from stealing a Nuclear football from the visiting Russian Minister of Defence. If I must be honest, I found that particular sequence rather mind blowing and tense . . . especially since it was filmed on the streets of Manhattan and at the same time, Dom had to make an important contact with Magdalene Shaw behind Cipher's back. Director F. Gary Gray really outdid himself in this particular sequence.
Earlier, I had expressed my contempt toward the air of machismo featured in "THE FATE OF THE FURIOUS". That contempt still stands and it was really rampant in a few scenes featuring Vin Diesel, Dwayne Johnson and Jason Stratham. This was especially apparent in the Havana street car sequence and the scene that featured Shaw's attempt to escape from prison and Hobbs' attempt to stop him. Thankfully, the machismo level in "THE FATE AND THE FURIOUS" was few and far between. All three actors - especially Diesel - managed to prove that yes . . . they can be first-rate actors when given the chance. For Johnson, this was especially apparent in a scene in which Luke Hobbs was torn between being with his daughter during her soccer match and embarking upon a mission for the DDS. Stratham proved that his Deckard Shaw is more than just a macho man in his scenes with Luke Evans, as he played big brother to Evans' younger brother. And in the same sequence, he proved to be both funny and tender as his character rescued Dom's son from Cipher's clutches. As for Diesel, his character's situation - being blackmailed by the main villain - allowed the actor to prove that he can give a subtle and skillful performance. And aside from a few scenes, his Dom seemed like a . . . well, like a complex human being. I have to give kudos to Michelle Rodriguez for her emotional performance as Letty Ortiz-Toretto, who is torn between her confusion over her husband's behavior and her determination to get him back.
There were other performances that impressed me. Charlize Theron really impressed me by her portrayal of the villainous Cipher. I thought she skillfully conveyed Cipher's manipulative and cold-blooded personality with great ease. I regard Theron's Cipher as among the best villains in a franchise filled with first-rate villains. I was upset to see that screenwriter Chris Morgan had continued his portrayal of the Roman Pearce character as the franchise's clown. I just recently watched 2003's "2 FAST AND 2 FURIOUS"and found myself longing for that younger Roman, who was verbose, impulsive and belligerent at times, but certainly not a clown. And yet, Tyrese Gibson went on to prove that despite Morgan's depiction of his character, he was still the best actor among the franchise's long-standing cast. Once again, Kurt Russell provided a much-needed sense of sharp wit and class when he reprised his role as government honcho Frank Petty aka Mr. Nobody.
Despite the fact that her character had been used as nothing more than a plot devise, I have to give kudos to Elsa Pataky for giving an emotionally satisfying performance as Dom's former lover, Rio cop-turned-DDS agent, Elena Neves. Helen Mirren provided a good deal of sharp humor as the Shaw brothers' domineering mother, Magdalene Shaw. The movie also featured satisfying performances from Chris Bridges and Nathalie Emmanuel as Tej Parker and Ramsey (from "FURIOUS 7"), Luke Evans as Owen Shaw, and also Scott Eastwood, who portrayed Eric Reisner aka Little Nobody, Agent Petty's assistant. Speaking of Mr. Eastwood, I was surprised that he and Gibson managed to create this . . . interesting and rather funny screen team during the film. I mean . . . it took me completely by surprise. And if you look real sharp, you just might spot both Tego Calderón and Don Omar as Tego Leo and Rico Santo, last seen in 2011's "FAST FIVE".
"THE FATE OF THE FURIOUS" is not perfect. There were scenes and some dialogue that I found somewhat off-putting. And if I must be honest, I found myself missing the late Paul Walker. I found it odd that the Luke Hobbs character was able to recruit Dom and his friends for a mission that really had nothing to do with them. But I must admit that I really enjoyed the story created by Chris Morgan. Like "FAST FIVE", it went beyond the franchise's usual shtick of the later films. And thanks to F. Gary Gray, it also featured at least two or three first-rate action sequences and surprisingly excellent performances from a cast led by Vin Diesel. Personally, I thought it was one of the franchise's better films.
"SUICIDE SQUAD" (2016) Review
The year 2016 has proven to be a strange one for Warner Brothers Studios and fans of DC Comics. Their creation - the DC Extended Universe (DCEU) franchise had released two films that proved to be box office hits, yet critical flops. One of those movies was the Zack Synder film, "BATMAN V. SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE". And the other was the summer film, "SUICIDE SQUAD".
Three years before the release of these two films, the DCEU franchise witnessed its kickoff with the release of "MAN OF STEEL", another origin tale of Clark Kent aka Superman. Whereas "BATMAN V. SUPERMAN" seemed to be more of a direct sequel to the 2013 movie, the narrative for "SUICIDE SQUAD" seemed to be something of a reaction to Superman's death in "BATMAN V. SUPERMAN".
Written and directed by David Ayer, "SUICIDE SQUAD" began several months after the previous film. Amanda Waller, director of the Federal agency Advanced Research Group Uniting Super-Humans (A.R.G.U.S.), convinces the Defense Department to allow her to assemble "Task Force X", a team of dangerous criminals imprisoned at Belle Reve Prison in Louisiana, to engage in high risk black ops missions. The criminals that she has selected are:
*Floyd Lawton aka Deadshot - an elite marksman and professional assassin, who has a warm relationship with his only daughter
*Harleen Quinzel aka Harley Quinn - a former psychiatrist and crazed supervillain who is in a relationship with the psychotic gangster "the Joker"
*Chato Santana aka El Diablo - a former Los Angeles based gang member with a powerful pyrokinetic ability, who had turned himself in after accidentally killing his wife and children
*George "Digger" Harkness aka Captain Boomerang - an Australian-born thief with an unpredictable personality and a talent with deadly boomerangs and knives
*Waylon Jones aka Killer Croc - a supervillain who suffers from a skin condition that causes him to develop reptilian features and a powerful strength
*Dr. June Moone aka Enchantress - an archaeologist who is possessed by an ancient evil force that transforms her into a powerful sorceress
*Christopher Weiss aka Slipknot - a mercenary and assassin who specializes in tactical grappling and scaling
Waller assigns an Army Special Forces officer named Colonel Richard "Rick" Flagg to lead the squad into the field. He is assisted by a group of Navy SEALS led by GQ Edwards, and a widowed Japanese vigilante and martial arts expert named Tatsu Yamashiro aka Katana, who also happens to be a friend of Flagg's. While Waller and Dr. Moore are in Midway City, the latter transforms into the Enchantress and manages to escape from the former's control. The Enchantress then frees her brother Incubus from a South American artifact, allowing him to take control of a Midway City businessman's body. While both the Enchantress and Incubus besiege the city, the former transforms many of its citizens into her monstrous minions and decides to build a mystical weapon to eradicate mankind. Meanwhile, Waller finally decides to deploy the squad to extract a high-profile mark from the besieged Midway and from possible capture by the Enchantress.
As I had earlier pointed out, the moment "SUICIDE SQUAD" hit the theaters, most of the critics trashed it. I must admit that I was baffled by their reactions. It is one thing to trash the DCEU's earlier entry, "BATMAN V. SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE", even though I did not agree with their negative opinions. But "SUICIDE SQUAD" got trashed as well? Two DCEU movies in one year?
"SUICIDE SQUAD" was not perfect. One of the problems I had with the movie's narrative is that the setting struck me as a bit constricted, considering its 123 minutes running time. At least two-thirds of the film was set during one night in the downtown area of a major city. Also, I never understood why Amanda Waller and Rick Flagg went out of their way to keep the identity of the high-profile mark that the squad had to rescue a secret. Even if they had revealed the truth to Deadshot and the squad's other members, the latter would have been forced to go ahead with the rescue, due to the nano bombs injected into their necks that coerced the squad to cooperate.
Speaking of the nano bombs, I found myself thinking about the character portrayed by Adam Beach, Christopher Weiss aka Slipknot. I hate to say this, but David Ayer really wasted his role. Unlike the other members of the Suicide Squad, there were no glimpses of his backstory in flashbacks. In fact, his name was not even mentioned in the scene in which Amanda Waller introduced her scheme to create the squad. Nor was he seen in the sequence in which Waller and Flagg "recruited" the other members. Audiences knew nothing about Slipknot's role in the film, until he made his first appearance at a military base, where the other squad members had gathered. So . . . what was the point of Slipknot's role in the movie? Utilizing a scene from one of the comic books for "Suicide Squad" in which Captain Boomerang managed to convince Slipknot to join him in an escape attempt from the military, he was merely used as a plot device to show what would happen to the squad's other members if they try to escape. Death by an explosion from an injected nano bomb. That is all.
Despite the above problems I had with this film, overall, I liked it very much. Okay, who am I kidding? Hell, I loved this movie! It was a hell of a ride and a lot of fun. And it did a great job in expanding the DCEU even more. Just as Zach Synder had connected "MAN OF STEEL" with "BATMAN V. SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE", David Ayer did the same by connecting the latter with "SUICIDE SQUAD". More importantly, he also connected this movie with one of the upcoming DCEU films, "JUSTICE LEAGUE" in one scene featuring Captain Boomerang getting arrested by Barry Allen aka the Flash in a flashback and in a post-credit scene featuring Amanda Waller and Bruce Wayne aka Batman. The latter scene proved to be a special connection between Waller's failed attempt to make the Enchantress a part of the squad, her files on other meta humans like the Flash and Aquaman, and Bruce Wayne's government contacts that would allow her to avoid any consequences from the whole Enchantress/Midway City debacle.
I also enjoyed how "SUICIDE SQUAD" began with the introduction of the squad's "recruits". While Amanda Waller narrated, the movie embarked upon a series of entertaining flashbacks that revealed the squad members' talents, crimes and how they were captured. Naturally, my two favorite backstories were about Deadshot and Harley Quinn. Both of them revealed how their encounters with Batman led to their incarceration. I was surprised to see another member of the future Justice League of America, namely the Flash, in Captain Boomerang's flashback.
Another aspect of "SUICIDE SQUAD" that I found interesting was how the squad's members managed to form a well tight unit on their own, even when their ties to others were either disconnected like Deadshot's to his daughter Zoe during his time in prison; questionable like Harley Quinn's disturbed and abusive romance with the Joker; and in the case of three other members, non-existent. El Diablo has spent most of his time in prison mourning over the family he had killed and indulging in self-isolation. Killer Croc's reptilian appearance has led him to be isolated and reviled by his fellow criminals and society at large. As for Captain Boomerang, he made it quite clear in a flashback when he double-crossed a colleague that he preferred to work alone. Despite these disparate situations, the squad learned to work together. More importantly, they even learned to work with Rick Flagg, Katana and the Navy SEALs, despite the distrust between the squad and their military watchdogs.
There had been a good deal of criticism from critics and some fans about how Ayer dealt with the relationship between Harley Quinn and the Joker. Many seemed to believe that Ayer had whitewashed the abusive nature of their relationship. That is not the relationship I had seen on screen. It really was not that difficult for me to notice how the Joker seemed to be in control of their relationship. Flashbacks revealed how he had exploited her infatuation for him. I also noticed his disturbing penchant for infantilizing her at times. Even the wardrobe that Harley wore to Midway City seemed to indicate that the Joker regarded her as his possession - namely her "Daddy's Lil Monster" T-shirt and "Puddin" choker:
And yet, I do not recall the Joker wearing any clothing or accessories hinting that he is Harley's possession. Curious. In fact, the controlling nature of their relationship seemed indicative in other relationships in the movie. The Enchantress proved to be something of a control freak. Brimming with resentment over humanity for imprisoning her and her brother Incubus, the sorceress decides to mankind. And yet . . . she transformed many of Midway City's citizens into her minions and seemed to be the dominant half of her relationship with Incubus. On the other hand, Amanda Waller seemed to be the "Queen of Control" in "SUICIDE SQUAD". She uses her position as Director of A.R.G.U.S. to assume control of the criminals who form the squad. And to insure that they will cooperate, she has small nano bombs implanted in their necks. She also tried to use her possession of the Enchantress' heart to control the latter. And she encouraged a romance between Rick Flagg and the Enchantress' human identity, Dr. June Moone, to guarantee Flagg's undivided cooperation.
What can I say about the cast? Personally, I thought the cast members were the best thing about "SUICIDE SQUAD". I have not seen Will Smith in a really good movie since 2012's "MEN IN BLACK III". And I really enjoyed his entertaining, yet first-rate and ambiguous portrayal of sharpshooter Floyd Lawton aka Deadshot. Margot Robbie gave what has turned out to be a superb performance as the hilarious, yet somewhat insane Dr. Harleen Quinzel aka Harley Quinn. Frankly, I think her performance was one of the best in the movie. Another performance that really impressed me came from Viola Davis, who nearly ruled above the others as the ruthless and diabolical Amanda Waller, Director of A.R.G.U.S. The ironic thing is that Waller's character was not the movie's main antagonist, yet Davis' portrayal of her was so scary that she might as well have been.
Jay Hernandez was marvelous as the emotionally tortured Chato Santana aka El Diablo, whose guilt over his family's deaths have led him to be reluctant to participate in the fight against the Enchantress. Karen Fukuhara was equally marvelous as Tatsu Yamashiro aka Katana, the expert martial artist/swordswoman, who guarded Rick Flagg and mourned her dead husband with the intensity of El Diablo's flames. Speaking of Rick Flagg, it is amazing that I have never noticed Joel Kinnaman before this movie. I was surprised to learn that he was not the first choice for the role, for I believe he fitted it like a perfectly well-tailored suit. Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje's role as Waylon Jones aka Killer Croc was not as big as I would have liked. But the British actor still managed to give a great performance as the isolated supervillain, who managed to maintain a healthy attitude about his own self-esteem . . . despite what others may have thought about him. The biggest surprise proved to be Jai Courtney's portrayal of Australian criminal George "Digger" Harkness aka Captain Boomerang. I have seen Courtney portray a series of intense characters - both heroes and villains. I never knew that he had a talent for comedy. Because . . . dammit! The man was funny as hell.
I thought Jared Leto gave one of the most interesting and original portrayals of the D.C. Comics supervillain, the Joker, I have ever seen. It was . . . well, very dangerous, but in a very sexy way. A sexy Joker. I never thought I would ever say that about the famous villain. But Leto did give a rather sexy and entertaining performance. "SUICIDE SQUAD" also featured some solid supporting performances from the likes of Cara Delevingne as Dr. June Moone aka the Enchantress, Ben Affleck as Bruce Wayne aka Batman, David Harbour as a Federal official named Dexter Tolliver, Shailyn Pierre-Dixon as Zoe Lawton, Corina Calderon as Grace Santana, Scott Eastwood as Navy SEAL GQ Edwards, Common as a Gotham City criminal named Monster T and yes, even Adam Beach as Christopher Weiss aka Slipknot . . . despite his limited appearance.
Although I had a problem with director David Ayer's use of the Slipknot character and other minor aspects of the narrative for "SUICIDE SQUAD", I must admit that I enjoyed the movie a lot. Very much. In fact, it has become my favorite movie from the summer of 2016 and one of my favorite movies of the summer. Despite what other critics may have thought about it, I thought it was one hell of a film. I look forward to a sequel.
