DIRECTOR: F. Gary Gray LEAD CAST: Vin Diesel, Dwayne Johnson, Jason Statham, Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese
Gibson, Chris Bridges, Nathalie
Emmanuel, Kurt Russell, Scott Eastwood, Charlize Theron, Helen Mirren WRITTEN BY: Chris Morgan BASED ON
CHARACTERS BY: Gary Scott Thompson PRODUCERS: Neal H. Moritz, Vin Diesel, Michael Fottrell, FILM EDITORS: Nei Christian Wagner, Paul Rubell
GENRE: Action, Crime,
Thriller CINEMATOGRAPHY: Stephen F. Windon MUSIC: Brian Tyler PRODUCTON
COMPANIES: Original Film, One Race
Films, Perfect World Pictures, China Film Group Crporation DISTRIBUTORS: Universal Pictures COUNTRY: U. S. A.
LANGUAGE: English RUNNING
TIME: 2 hours & 16 minutes
Technical
assessment: 3.5
Moral
assessment: 3
CINEMA
rating: V14
MTRCB
rating: R16
The eighth installment
of the popular Fast and Furious
franchise, this one follows the honeymoon of Dominic Torretto and Letty (Vin
Diesel and Michelle Rodriguez) in Cuba while the rest of the crew are exonerated
and living the semblance of a normal life. Then one mysterious woman, Cipher
(Charlize Theron) interrupts Dom on their way back home and offers him to work
for her. Dom is hesitant at first but she shows him something that causes him
to consider the offer. Back home, Luke
Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) once again recruits Dom and his crew to prevent a strong
weapon of mass destruction from falling into dangerous hands – but at the end
of the mission, Dom betrays Luke and steals the weapon from him. It is then revealed
that Dom now works for Cipher—who apparently is an international terrorist and
hacker—and the entire crew is soon forced to go up against them. Has Dom really
turned his back on the team he calls family?
Fast
and Furious 8
remains to be an exciting spectacle of fast cars and high technology. As
expected of its genre and for what the franchise is known for, there are
explosions, destructions, havoc, speeding cars and car crashes galore.
Audiences are fascinated by all these considering the feast of flashy luxury
cars and the involvement of cyber-technology in its manipulation. But central
to the spectacle is the heart of the story that revolves around family and
teamwork. Amidst the seemingly chaotic picture is a story with a clear villain
and a team that is up to stop her at whatever the cost—even if it means going
up against a former member whom they consider family. The plot gets to be
interesting as it reveals layers and layers of motivations—clearly defining
each character’s significance in the entire story. The film has no pretensions of going bizarre
and philosophical but it is still able to elicit a certain level of suspense
and excitement with a dose of drama and humor.
Fast
and Furious 8,
despite its expected noise and chaos, centers on family and relationships
anchored on values that are explicitly Christian. The team has developed a
familial bond that goes beyond blood relations. They protect one another and do
not turn their backs entirely on a member believing that family is family. The
crew is always keen on saving humanity from harm and evil plot and it takes a
team of their caliber of courage, strength and bravery to do such
life-threatening mission. The cross is a major element in the plot and plays a
vital symbolism for the characters’ faith and salvation. Even the seemingly
ultra-powerful villain is defeated by the presence of the cross—although the
battle may not be really over. The
characters are seen making the sign of the cross, praying in the middle of the
battle, saying grace before meals and their central goal is to save a family
and the world—traits that are characteristic of a good person and a good
Christian. However, it cannot be denied that inherent to the film’s genre,
there are frequent scenes and graphic images of violence, cursing, and some
sexual innuendoes which are inappropriate for the very young audiences even if
those scenes are within the film’s context. So CINEMA deems the film as appropriate only
to audiences ages 14 and above.
