After 11 movies in the Fast & Furious franchise, it can be hard to remember which one is which. Like, I know Ludacris and Tyrese Gibson go into space in one of the more recent ones, but I’m not sure which. I also recall Gal Gadot dying during a big showdown on an airport runway, but I have no idea what movie that is either.
There are a few of them, however, that I can easily identify. For example, I know Fast 5 because it’s the best one, and it has that amazing vault chase. And I remember Tokyo Drift because it has basically none of the characters I care about, making it really, really boring. Finally, I definitely know Furious 7 because that’s the one with the beautiful sendoff to the late Paul Walker and the one where Jason Statham shines as the coolest villain in the history of the franchise. (And amazingly, it stands to this day as Statham’s most-loved action movie on Rotten Tomatoes.)
Furious 7, which was recently added to Tubi’s free streaming library, begins with a calm moment in the lives of Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) and his crew. Despite past crimes, their slates were wiped clean after taking down Owen Shaw (Luke Evans) in the previous film. Brian O’Conner (Walker) and Mia Toretto (Jordana Brewster) are enjoying being parents. But with Owen Shaw having been put into a coma, his older brother Deckard Shaw (Statham) seeks revenge by blowing up Dom’s house. Everyone survives, but Dom vows to take down Deckard for destroying his home and killing Han Lue (Sung Kang), a sneaky retcon that was revealed at the end of Fast & Furious 6, even though it happened during the events of Tokyo Drift (which is the third movie produced, but the seventh film chronologically — yes, it’s confusing).
Anyway, Dom and Deckard hate each other, and when Dom meets a government agent named Mr. Nobody (Kurt Russell), Dom asks the agent to help him take down Deckard. Mr. Nobody agrees, but Dom first has to take down a Nigerian terrorist (Djimon Hounsou) who has stolen a flash drive containing a computer program called “God’s Eye,” which can track everyone on Earth. Dom assembles his team, but Brian, wanting to dedicate himself to fatherhood, promises Mia this will be his last job. The team then retrieves God’s Eye and uses it to track Deckard, who is already one step ahead.
That’s pretty much Deckard’s M.O. throughout this movie. He’s a force to be reckoned with. First there’s his fight with the government agent Luke Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson), which features two of the biggest action stars of the 21st century going at it in hand-to-hand combat. Then there’s a very memorable scene where Dom and Deckard ram their cars into each other during a game of chicken. The characters have a few more run-ins throughout the movie, but in the end, of course, Dom wins and Deckard goes to prison.
In later movies, Deckard is redeemed as a good guy. First he helps Dom’s crew in Fate of the Furious, then he’s partnered with Hobbs in the spinoff film Hobbs & Shaw. But he was never as much fun as he was when he was a single-minded villain, bent on revenge against Dom and his crew.
Though as good as Statham is in the film, Furious 7’s most important character arc went to Paul Walker, who wasn’t even there for most of it.
Directed by James Wan, Furious 7 began filming in September 2013. Sadly, Walker died in a car crash just two months later, with a lot of his scenes having not yet been filmed. Over the next several months, the film was reworked by Wan, Diesel, and screenwriter Chris Morgan to tell a coherent story, which also included Brian O’Connor’s retirement from the crew.
When filming resumed, Walker’s real-life brothers Caleb Walker and Cody Walker stood in for their brother while Paul’s face was digitally mapped onto them. Unused and archival scenes from the previous films were also repurposed. Because of these constraints, there is a bit of clunkiness to the movie, but the way they manufactured an ending for Walker’s Brian O’Connor is downright touching.
Especially powerful is the final scene, where Dom gives a nod as Brian smiles back. They then partake in a brief, friendly race before going different ways at a fork in the road. It’s a fitting tribute to Walker and the most emotional moment in the entire franchise.
And that’s why Furious 7 is worth checking out while it’s still free to stream on Tubi. Sure, the fight scenes are great, the car chases are fun, and Statham makes for an awesome villain, but this one’s for Paul Walker — and it always will be.
