‘The Fate Of The Furious’ Review: If You Expect More, You’re Doing It Wrong

*Spoiler Free Review*

“Dominic Toretto just went rogue!”

As The Fate of the Furious kicks off, Dom (Vin Diesel) and Letty’s (Michelle Rodriguez) honeymoon gets cut short when a mysterious hacker named Cipher (Charlize Theron) enters their life and turns everything upside down. Now, for some unknown reason, Dom has turned his back on the most important thing in his life, his family, and it’s up to his old team to take him down before he goes too far.

When a series is eight movies in (good lord), there comes a time in any series when you have to start shaking things up. Full disclosure: I used to hate the Fast and/or Furious movies. For the first few films, I couldn’t care less, but somewhere around the fourth or fifth film, the series really turned things around. Like SKYNET, the franchise became self-aware. That was the first time it shook things up. Life shook things up for the franchise the last time, but I thought Furious 7 did a remarkable job of rolling with the punches and adapting after Paul Walker’s tragic passing. Now, the series enters an exciting new chapter with The Fate of the Furious and it’s time to shake things up once again. And boy, did they!

Also read: ‘The Fate Of The Furious’ Director Says Film Is ‘Shift’ In Franchise

I love the premise here, with the whole team versus Dom. It’s such a fantastic idea. This many films in, it’s tough to come up with a villain worthy of the combined efforts of this group, so why not put them up against one of their own? That’s not to say that the film’s actual villains weren’t great. Charlize Theron was wonderful as Cipher, providing a genuinely ruthless antagonist unlike any this series has ever seen, one that really will stop at nothing to achieve her goals. My only problem was, I didn’t really know why she wanted what she wanted. This film pays no mind in spelling out her motivation. I did, however, like Game of Thrones‘ Kristofer Hivju as her main henchman, Rhodes. Put this guy in everything!

Even without Dom, though, the team is still firing on all cylinders. Rodriguez was badass as usual as Letty and I liked seeing her play a slightly different dynamic than usual, hurt and confused by Dom’s betrayal. Some of my favorite moments in the movie were shared between Luke Hobbs (Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson) and Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham), the only two men in the world that have ever tracked Dom. Johnson is always entertaining. His first scene was hysterical. I love Statham as an action star as well when used correctly and this franchise certainly knows how to use him correctly. Putting the two of these guys together again and having them working on the same side this time was just genius.

Every time I see one of these films I forget just how hilarious Tyrese Gibson is as the butt-of-the-jokes Roman. He really keeps the film moving with his non-stop quips. He always plays well off of Tej (Chris “Ludacris” Bridges) and Ramsey (Nathalie Emmanuel) as well. I love the dynamic between these three. There are a few other great appearances from Fast & Furious regulars, but I won’t ruin the fun here. The remainder of the cast is filled with some other fantastic actors. Kurt Russell is always great and brings his usual charm to the role of the mysterious head of some covert op organization known only as Mr. Nobody and Scott Eastwood was a welcome addition to the film as his junior agent that the teams calls Little Nobody. I hope we learn more about these guys in future installments. The real surprise though was how great the addition of Helen Mirren’s Magdalene Shaw is to the franchise. Her crass Cockney mum was utterly delightful. It’s actually pretty insane the level of talent these films draw now.

Also read: Vin Diesel Almost Wasn’t Dom In ‘The Fast And The Furious’

Speaking of insane, the action is just as batshit crazy as always, in all the right ways. I always enjoy leaving what very little I know about real-world physics at the door. It’s getting to the point where they are running out of ways to top themselves. By the time the planned tenth film rolls around, they might actually just have to go to space because it’s the only thing left they haven’t done yet. I am not a car guy, but if a film can keep me engaged and if I can follow everything that’s going on in all the racing and chase sequences, it’s doing something right. F. Gary Gray was an inspired choice as director. He did a brilliant job of picking up where James Wan left things with Furious 7 and delivering on all the fun that fans of this franchise have come to expect. I’d like to see him come back for another.

As far as the twists and turns of the story go, there were a few moments in this film where I felt like I was way ahead of the writer, Chris Morgan, but I was pleased to discover that most of the time the script zigged when I thought it would zag. There is one moment that I saw coming for like an hour-and-a-half, but when it finally happened, I’ll be damned if I didn’t get a little bit glassy-eyed. There were actually a couple of genuinely touching moments for me, which was a bit surprising because I figured we were done with all that after saying goodbye to Paul Walker in the last movie. Not to say that they don’t always try to hook you with the whole family theme that runs through most of the franchise, but this time it actually worked for me. I guess that’s the benefit of having an audience follow you for eight movies. It took a little while, but they’ve actually earned those moments by now. There are a ton of surprises in this film too. The fan service in this movie is off the charts. This franchise knows how to give the fans exactly what they want.

Also read: Vin Diesel Nixed ‘Fate of the Furious’ Scene Ft The Rock & Jason Statham

And now for my negatives. I already mentioned the lack of motivation for Charlize Theron’s character. That was definitely disappointing, because she was a terrific villain otherwise. Also, as usual for the franchise, some of the dialogue (mostly exposition stuff) was worthy of an eye roll or two. It was a bit too lengthy as well at 2 hours, 16 minutes. The climax, as epic and entertaining as it was, could have maybe been trimmed a bit. Finally, and this one isn’t as much the film’s fault as much as the marketing team’s, the trailers showed way too much. Just about all of the great action beats and even some of the reveals are spoiled in all the ads or TV spots.

Overall, though, most of the negatives don’t even matter. I got exactly what I wanted out of The Fate of the Furious. At this point, everyone knows what these films are all about: fun, fast cars and family. This film definitely delivers on all of those promises. If you’re expecting anything more, you’re doing it wrong. The story may be a little bit thin at times, but it’s never boring. I saw it in a packed house in a theater that serves alcohol. I don’t even drink, but it was a blast, because that crowd was into this movie, cheering and laughing at all the right action beats and one-liners. If you’re a fan of the franchise or just looking for a big dumb action movie to watch while you shove popcorn into your face, this is definitely a great couple of hours spent at the cinema.

Score: B-

The Fate of the Furious is in theaters now. Have you seen the film yet? If so, what did you think? Are you a fan of the franchise? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.

6 Theater-Worthy Movies To Look Forward To In April

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March has ended and Spring has begun which means we’re already in the summer movie season. The biggest hits of last month both financially and critically were Beauty and the Beast, Kong: Skull Island, and Logan. April offers us a smaller and more intimate slate of films, giving us a well-deserved breath of fresh air from last month’s loaded offerings. This month’s films will put many of our favorite stars in roles that are both unique and diverse, which might surprise you.

Let’s take a look at what you can expect to come out this month in chronological order. Hit Next to continue!

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VIEW IN GALLERY

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‘Riverdale’ 1.10 ‘The Lost Weekend’ Review

This week on Riverdale, Veronica found herself between a rock and a hard place when it came to testifying on her father’s behalf while the group tried to throw Jughead a surprise birthday party that turned into a giant out-of-control kegger. As Jughead said during his opening narration, “There is no such thing as control. There is only chaos.” A truer statement couldn’t have been made to lead us into this crazy episode.

Even though Archie wants his parents to try and patch things up now that Fred and Hermione’s relationship is over, Fred takes off at the beginning of the episode to finalize his divorce, leaving Jughead and Archie home alone.

At school, Archie reveals Jughead’s impending birthday to Betty, who had no idea because Jughead doesn’t like celebrating. As Archie and Betty discuss what to do, they initially resolve to just go to the theater to watch a movie. When Betty calls FP and asks him to come, he reveals Jughead has never had a birthday party. This sets Betty off on party planning and Veronica is all in, but Archie cautions against it. However, Betty says it’ll be a party with the “inner circle” only.

As they’re discussing, Chuck Clayton walks back into school; back from his suspension. When he sits down next to Ethel, Betty goes on the attack but Chuck says he’s just there to apologize and Ethel waves Betty (who’s clearly have some “full dark, no stars” flashbacks) off. When Betty returns to the table, Archie offers his house for the birthday party since his dad is out of town. Betty then reaches out once more to FP about attending the party for Jughead’s sake.

At cheer practice, Veronica is tired of Cheryl’s attitude and challenges her to a dance-off for top spot on the squad. After the battle is over, the girl’s unanimously vote for Veronica. Cheryl goes after her two minions on the squad, telling them that they’re fired and she doesn’t want them around anymore. On the warpath, Cheryl then goes to Pop’s and asks Chuck to team up for “a little destruction.”

That evening at the party, the group (plus Joaquin and Ethel) are waiting for Jughead and Betty to arrive from the theater. When they show up, Jughead is clearly less than thrilled but Betty comes out with a cake and sings “Happy Birthday” to him. However, the festivities upset Veronica who isn’t in the mood after reading her dad’s letter. She walks away crying and Archie goes to talk with her. The two open up to each other about their issues with their parents and end up in a hug. Jughead and Betty walk in and see the hug and Veronica says she’s “not in a party mood.” Jughead also says he’s not in a party mood and Betty and he start to get into it, but the doorbell rings and Cheryl, Chuck, and most of the kids of Riverdale come storming in.

The party quickly turns into all-out chaos and as Archie and Jughead are speaking privately, FP shows up with a gift for Jughead. When FP enters the house, he spies Kevin and Joaquin kissing and pulls him aside. As they’re making their way through the house, Veronica spies FP and remembers him from the deal he saw him make with her mother. Joaquin and FP go discuss the revelation that Archie overheard as Alice spies on them from next door.

In the kitchen, Betty confronts Chuck who gets nasty, telling her he saw the real her the night she went full dark, no stars. Betty then goes to talk to Jughead and the two get into a heated discussion as Jughead lashes out at Betty for throwing the party. Jughead feels Betty is too good for him and says she’s just “slumming it” with him while biding her time for Archie.

Meanwhile, Archie spies Valerie at the party and confronts her but Valerie isn’t having it and Archie’s a little drunk. Valerie ends up spilling her drink all over Archie in front of everyone.

When Jughead tries to storm out of the party, Cheryl and Chuck prevent him from leaving and start a game to get everyone’s secrets out into the open. Cheryl goes after Veronica but Veronica fires back, suggesting Cheryl and Jason’s “twincest.” Then Archie and Miss Grundy’s relationship comes to light when Dilton speaks up. Chuck then steps up and outs Betty for what she did to him. As he continues, Jughead jumps in and starts swinging and FP intervenes, throwing Chuck out of the party. He then declares the party is over. As everyone starts leaving, Jughead tries to leave but FP gets in his face and tells him to “man up” and go be with Betty. When FP turns to leave, Alice approaches him and FP tells her that a “snake never really sheds its skin,” implying that Alice was once part of the Serpents.

At Pop’s, Jughead and Betty talk it out. Jughead talks about his fear of not being accepted for who he is and Betty reveals to him her fear of the darkness she has inside.

At the Andrews’ household, Archie and Veronica are the only two left and they talk about their lives and struggles. As they’re talking, they share a kiss, which quickly leads to a make-out session. The next morning, Veronica wake up in Archie’s bed. When Veronica goes to leave, Jughead spies her and promises that his “lips are sealed.”

In Lodge world, an attorney for Hiram comes to the Lodges to try and prepare Veronica’s statement for her father’s hearing, but she isn’t on board. At school, Betty and Archie tell Veronica what Archie overheard Clifford Blossom saying about putting Hiram Lodge in jail. Veronica later reveals this news to her mother along with a paper trail she dug up concerning some monetary dealings Clifford and Hiram had gotten into. Hermione cautions her to drop it as it might throw suspicion on Hiram for Jason’s murder; however, Veronica later reveals all this information to Hiram’s attorney. The attorney then tries to get Veronica to testify once again and when she resists once more, the attorney whips out a note from Hiram. In the note, he cautions Veronica to choose her next steps wisely as it will not only impact Hiram but will also affect Hermione who is not as innocent as she seems (according to Hiram anyway).

When it’s time to step up, Veronica reveals she’s ready to go on record about her parents for her mother’s sake. Later, she reveals to Betty that she testified and reveals that FP has been in Hiram’s employ before, questioning what else he may have done for her father. She then says she wants to help with Betty’s investigation because she wants the truth.

As the episode closed, Archie had just finished cleaning up the party mess when his parents walked in, together.

Continue on to read the review of season one’s tenth episode, “The Lost Weekend.” It’s separated so you can tackle all of the juicy Riverdale drama in chunks and explore the episode’s key moments and highlights. Click Next to scroll through, or jump straight to the part you’re most interested in:

• Chuck Returns
• Jughead and Betty on the Rocks
• Veronica and Archie Rekindle the Flame
• Enter Archie’s Mom
• The Verdict and Other Thoughts

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‘Powerless’: ‘Green Furious’ Review

Green Fury returns on this week’s episode of Powerless, entitled “Green Furious.”

When Emily (Vanessa Hudgens) gets carried away in her first company board meeting, she has to deliver on her big idea of getting Green Fury (Natalie Morales) to be in a commercial for one of the company’s products. After she saved him last week, Teddy (Danny Pudi) continues to try and find a way to get Green Fury’s attention.

Meanwhile, after bringing her daughter to work, Jackie (Christina Kirk) is upset when she starts to bond with Wendy (Jennie Pierson).

There’s a lot to talk about in this week’s episode of Powerless, so hit the next button below to follow along as we break down the highlights and critical moments of “Green Furious.”

5. “If you wanna make an omelet, you have to compromise all of your principles.”

4. “You better not be having any fun!”

3. Theo’s Woke Now

2. DC Comics Easter Eggs

1. Final Thoughts

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’Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.’: ‘Identity And Change’ Review

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. opens up with Coulson getting caught up to speed by Daisy Johnson about how they are trapped in a virtual world and how this “Wonderful Hydra Life” isn’t real. Coulson also realizes that Hydra has been subtly brainwashing everyone in this world by a specific soap that releases a certain drug into their system. They get re-group with Simmons when Ward notifies them that Hydra is on their way to the school to question Coulson. Simmons and Daisy argue about trying to reach out to Fitz, but Daisy thinks it is a bad idea because he isn’t the Fitz that Simmons remembers. The three decide to start looking for Radcliffe who in this reality has been missing for a few years. But first, they are taken to the Resistance which is revealed to be none other than S.H.I.E.L.D. which is lead by Jeffrey Mace.

They group with Ward, despite being a little hesitant in trusting him as they manage to find Radcliffe who is enjoying his “life” as a retired man. When he sees Ward, he believes it to be Hive, but once he sees Coulson and Simmons, Radcliffe freaks out and tries to get them to leave. Radcliffe claims that he never intended to hurt anyone, but drops the bigger bomb that there is no escape from the Framework. When Ward suddenly sees a mysterious woman in the background, Radcliffe begs him to not go for her as it’s none other than Agnes who doesn’t remember her life in the real world.  Before they can do anything, Hydra arrives with Madame Hydra and Fitz right in the middle. Radcliffe tries to reason with the Madame about how crazy this whole setup is and accidentally calls her Aida, which upsets the Madame.

Fitz points a gun at Agnes and Radcliffe tries to make Fitz remember their life together in the real world, the time they spent together. Ward aims at Fitz from the bushes, but Simmons begs him to not shoot Fitz as she will lose him forever if Ward kills him. Fitz still tries to get Radcliffe to reveal where the Resistance people are hiding at, but Radcliffe tries one last time to wake Fitz up by bringing up Simmons and the love he has for her. Despite his attempts, Fitz kills Agnes before he sees a crying Simmons in the distance. The Hydra soldiers begin firing shots at Ward, Coulson and Simmons who manages to escape. Back on the Quinjet, Simmons is heartbroken about what Fitz just did and Coulson comforts her. Once back at S.H.I.E.L.D, Mace is furious about how the situation was played out, but Simmons explains to Mace and Ward about the Framework. .

We get a deeper look into Mack’s life where he is a happy father and has a young daughter named Hope who is quite smart for her age. Hope had accidentally picked up some Hydra tech for her drone which gets Mack deeply concerned as he remind her that they have to be more careful. While they are waiting for the bus, a group of Hydra agents appear and demand to get everyone’s identification. Hope whispers to Mack that she still has the drone in her backpack as she was planning on returning the tech where she had found it. Fortunately for them, the agents are there for a potential Inhuman citizen and arrest him before taking off. However, they are later arrested by May and her squad, which includes Daisy who is shocked to see Mack again.

While Mack is being interrogated, Daisy is getting to know Hope and remembers what happened to Mack’s daughter back in the real world. As Hope is concerned about her father being in trouble because of her actions, Daisy assures her that Mack will be just fine. She leaves the room and then goes over to Mack who claims to remember Daisy who gets happy that Mack is remembering. However, Daisy quickly realizes that it was all an setup as he was told to repeat that information to her in order to get Daisy to confess. Daisy tries to escape and takes down several Hydra agents along the way. However, just as she is about to exit the facility, May has Daisy surrounded by Hydra soldiers that begin kicking and punching Daisy who goes down. Mack and Hope are released, but when she sees the Hydra soldiers dragging an unconscious Daisy to a cell, she is stunned to learn that Mack cooperated with Hydra.

An S.H.I.E.L.D. agent walks in and informs them that a man is there to tell them an unbelievable story and it’s none other than Mack who confesses what he did to Daisy by selling her out to Hydra. Mack feels bad about what he did and tells the group that he is there to help them, in any way that he can The episode ends with a beaten up Daisy trying to get through to Fitz who tells her that he knows about her Inhuman DNA. Fitz assures Daisy that he knowns very well who he is before two Hydra men walk in and start dragging her out for more torture.  Given the size of this intense episode, there is a lot we have to discuss with this week’s episode. With all of that said, hit the NEXT button below and let’s go through some of tonight’s biggest highlights and important moments in the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 4 episode: “Identity and Change”

#5: Project Looking Glass

#4: S.H.I.E.L.D. Lives

#3: Fitz’s Darkest Moment

#2: Mack Starts Finding His Way Back

#1: Daisy – Captive Of Hydra

The post ’Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.’: ‘Identity And Change’ Review appeared first on Heroic Hollywood.

DCTV’s Arrowverse Episode Roundup: ‘Legends’ Season Finale Edition

Welcome back to the DCTV Arrowverse episode roundup! This week in The CW’s superhero universe, our heroes dealt with the reality-changing Legion of Doom and faced a different set of challenges.

You can check out all of my previous DCTV Arrowverse episode roundups here!

This past week, only Legends of Tomorrow had a new episode of the four DCTV shows. It was its season two finale. The Legends had their final showdown with the Legion, but it was less of a showdown and more of an entertaining scramble to right the wrongs of the new alternate reality.

Each episode roundup recaps the show’s main plot points, with a section for commentary.

Supergirl, The Flash, and Arrow will be back the week of April 24.

Let’s get started! Click through the gallery to read through each episode!

Up next: Legends of Tomorrow

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‘Samurai Jack’ 5.04 ‘XCV’ Review: Jack In The Belly Of The Beast

After spending three episodes developing the Daughters of Aku and having its hero come to terms with many of his personal demons (and facing an unexpected week-long hiatus courtesy of a Rick & Morty-themed April Fools’ Day joke), Samurai Jack takes a brief respite from the darker aspects of the revival’s narrative to put the title character (and an unexpected, erm, “ally”) on a fantastic voyage of sorts.

Because we all knew that that fall at the end of the previous episode wasn’t going to kill him, the show wastes no time in showing that Jack is no worse for wear… And, for that matter, neither is Ashi, because the narrative’s established her as being too important to die just yet. Unfortunately for the pair of them, they’re soon swallowed by a giant beast that comes out of nowhere. While Jack tries to keep Ashi safe against his better judgment, Ashi’s more concerned with the samurai’s death than her own well-being, and does what little she can to speed up his demise. Hilarity ensues as Jack and the unwilling, ungrateful escort that he’s trying to save make it out of the monster’s gut.

If this concept sounds a bit familiar, then it should – this premise was used in a Season 2 episode when Jack had to enter a dragon to relieve its illness (something that Jack alludes to when explaining to Ashi that he’s been in this situation before). But while that episode was more or less an overlong flatulence joke that outstayed its welcome, this episode is more creative with its implementation of a journey through the interior of a behemoth, from the start with Jack and Ashi’s brief aerial duel to the episode’s inclusion of an entire ecosystem of fauna that lives within the beast’s belly. The color palette on this episode also proves to be interesting, even if the scope of the episode’s overall art direction is comparatively limited to the previous episodes of the revival.

Aside from that, Ashi’s attempts to kill the one person who’s trying to keep her alive never cease to be amusing, and provide for a bit of interesting choreography during the episode’s obligatory fight scenes. The episode is also considerably lighter in tone than its predecessors, and in many respects feels closer in tone to the previous four seasons than the current one. As it turns out, this is a fairly welcome change of pace, as it works as well within the context of the show as the inclusion of a singing robot assassin that does a Sammy Davis Jr. impersonation or the show’s big villain putting himself through a therapy session.

That being said, there’s still a lot of interesting character elements with this episode that usually wouldn’t be present in the more episodic format of the show’s initial run – as evident by his continued hallucinations, Jack is still haunted by the people he’s killed, even though it was in self-defense. It almost seems as if Jack’s newfound acceptance of use of violence against the Daughters ultimately provides our troubled hero with a subconscious motivation to “save” one of them, even though the logical option would be to let her go or to kill her. In the meantime, we get an even better look into Ashi’s mind – between the hilariously-ineffectual death threats against Jack and her brainwashed loyalty to her dark lord, we get more of an indication that she’s as much a victim of Aku’s evil as Jack is. But in the end, we see that she’s able to figure out that maybe, just maybe, she’s been lied to about Jack when one of her only happy memories resurfaces at the end of the episode. Perhaps there’s still hope for her yet.

While this might be my least favorite episode since the revival started – simply because, aside from the color-filled climax involving Jack’s escape using the animals of the beast’s gut, it’s just the least visually-interesting episode we’ve seen so far – that’s not a slam against it. It’s still absolutely great from start to finish and has a solid contained narrative on its own. The only thing keeping it from being even better in my book is that the three episodes that preceded it were just that good. It really says something when the show’s relative “low point” is still above and beyond most other shows of its kind.

Samurai Jack airs on Saturday evenings at 10:00 CST on Cartoon Network.

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‘Powerless’: ‘Van v Emily: Dawn Of Justice’ Review

Van and Emily butt heads Dark Knight and Man of Steel-style in this week’s episode of Powerless, entitled “Van v Emily: Dawn Of Justice.”

When Emily (Vanessa Hudgens) becomes hellbent on trading up from her cubicle to her own office, she goes head-to-head with Van Wayne (Alan Tudyk) in a game designed for children, ignoring everyone’s advice to just let Van win.

Meanwhile, there’s a beautiful new superheroine in town and Teddy (Danny Pudi) falls for her after she saves his life.

There’s a lot to talk about in this week’s episode of Powerless, so hit the next button below to follow along as we break down the highlights and critical moments of “Van v Emily: Dawn of Justice.”

5. Van Wayne’s Playhouse

4. The Green Arrow Games

3. Burning Love

2. DC Comics Easter Eggs

1. Final Thoughts

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