Just when you think the tricks are up, you are served more & more! F. Gary Gray's direction is really good. First & foremost, he understands the fundamental fabric of this universe well. He maintains the theme, and the initial credit's wordings are awesome. He knows how to bring you to 3 different parts of the world for this adventure, by lacing in the names of the cities on the landscapes - Cuba, New York & Russia. His steady scenes construction, calm camera navigations & usage of slow motions are fantastically professional. The tone brought out is a little refreshing too. Brian Tyler's scintillating tribal soundtrack is nice to listen to. Stephen F. Windon's cinematography is crisp - do not miss the shovel over truck body shot!
How did Chris Morgan's script fare this time? Well, mostly predictable. The strongest hook of suspense in the storyline is the reason that prompts Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) to join Cipher (Charlize Theron). But, once you learn it's because of a supposed son, the after-reaction is meh. It became an age old villain-kidnap-beloved-ones tale. Hereon, you know how the story's going to play forward. Elena (Elsa Pataky) will somehow be killed and the baby will be taken care by Letty (Michelle Rodríguez) & Dom, since both of them had the conversation about parenthood earlier in the runtime. We saw it coming from a million miles away. We could even smell the meat cooking for barbeque before the resolution arrives, because that is how typically a Fast and Furious film would end. Of course, there are expositional dialogue to reveal personae's names too.
It takes a while for the dots to connect. What has Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham) got to do with her too? At first, one might feel that the reasoning & justifications given in the beginning are poor patch up works. But, hang in there and give it some time. It will mostly make sense at the end, even though the way the plotline is shown is below average at best. This includes Deckard's unexpected death, which is a successful twist. You'll know what's the role of Magdalene (Helen Mirren) in this. We'll accept Deckard Shaw as an ally, due to the same motivation of his, to save his family.
It's easy to see where the franchise is headed after this. God's Eye, Nightshade, EMP and Nuclear Codes. Sounds a lot like gathering Infinity Stones in Marvel Cinematic Universe & combining it into one, right? But, looking at the overall scope, the idea is decent. You understand the involvement of Cipher in all of these, and how Dom is indirectly related to screwing up her plans, twice before the events that take place in this feature. It all triggers a bell. The motivation is firm. This pair makes a riveting ironic combo! Cipher is a high-tech challenging villain, who manipulates Dominic mentally. It's empowering to see her quiet down Dom. It's smart of her to use him & achieve what she couldn't before, since the crew she hired prior to accomplish the jobs failed under Dom's feet. There's one particular segment where she tries to get hold of a visual on Dom using every camera possibly hidden or reflections around the circumference, is tense!
It is not fair for Chris Morgan to break Hobbs' (Dwayne Johnson) code of conduct. It doesn't make sense. If he wanted to get the EMP, he could have done it legally, as how the character has been doing or will do. One betrayal by Riley (Gina Carano) or one major injury will not change a lifetime principle. Plus, he has a daughter to look after. What was he thinking by breaking the law; going rogue from being a law-abiding DSS officer? The same happened to Brian (Paul Walker) and Deckard Shaw as well. It's even mentioned in the screenplay. Maybe you can call this as one of the major rules or code of conducts of this universe. Breaking bad for no reason. Well, at least Hobbs wants to get out of the prison his way.
Let's talk about the stunt work in Fast 8. Terrific design & choreography! Quick team gathering for a swinging smiley bomb ball, Dom's Challenger being chased by heat signal, Hobbs misguiding a torpedo, automobiles falling off parking towers, Dom going against his own team, tires breathing fire while trying to hold him in place, Dom slicing off the oil tank in his guard mask & protection armor, man-flights ejected into Cipher's uber-cool plane, Dominic Toretto joining his team back and being protected by them, submarine's entry into action and fast cars struggling to ride on it are the eye-catchers! The amount of damage done is insane! Zombie cars is a great concept, but the execution is a little flat. Baby rescue is an awesome sequence, but the cradle hood should have been closed as that's the most appropriate choice, even if the opposite functions for comedic effect. Hand brawls are sadly, lousy. Apart from these, it feels grounded to witness real opposing challenges & disadvantages being thrown at our heroes. Look at the start, Dominic Toretto is placed behind wheels of a useless vehicle for racing purposes. Car catching fire & motorcycles being flung at him renders the resulting action interesting.
But, one of the primary negatives in the film is the mismatched tempo between the scenes construction & the stunts. While the actions are riding high on adrenaline, the shots for it are so tranquil that it doesn't make you feel the sense of urgency. We feel comfortable, and that is not how actions are supposed to be canned. Hence, it lost a steam of energy as it is underwhelming to watch the stunts unfold onscreen. It makes us perceive as if the actions do not have its own soul, whereas in actuality those are wonderfully crafted but watered down by the way its picturized! It is not until the final engagement set piece that this problem subdues.
Vin Diesel does have a tiny acting opportunity. But, the part where he cries is clearly glycerin. Michelle Rodríguez shows depression decently, but she is trying too hard to cry too. Charlize Theron is really cool as Cipher, but the character had too much of unnecessary dialogues. Chemistry between Hobbs & Deckard Shaw is the key highlight! Both insulting each other is a gold to catch, and the related dialogues are so offensively good! Finally, you have the whole crew back! Family is expanded. Even the baby is named after late Paul Walker's character. Even though we have a large number of members in the series now, Brian O'Conner is heavily missed. Only if he was in this picture, the effect would have surely been multifold larger.
There are more hits than misses from Roman Pearce (Tyrese Gibson) this time around. Please do not blink for the scene where his orange Lamborghini submerges into icy cold water and Tej Parker (Chris Bridges) has to retrieve him out by grappling a side door, resulting in Roman sliding across the frozen surface all the way through with mercenaries hunting after them behind! Roof came rumbling down for that! Inquiry on sending email to Dom & attempt to read English on Russian alphabets are hilarious as well! His interactions with Little Nobody (Scott Eastwood) is forgettable though. Yes, it is a needed cliché for both Tej and Roman to hit on Ramsey (Nathalie Emmanuel), because this is what studios compulsorily cooks up in big-budgeted films for no one knows why.
The movie is definitely lengthy and it would have benefited from a shy of 15 minutes or so. There are a couple of awkward lags in the beginning, but it's a nitpick actually. Dom's allies should have emoted more for the fact that their loyal head just went rogue! Where is their state of shock? But, Hobbs beautifully describes the look on Dom's face during betrayal, referring to Riley in Fast & Furious 6. Agency Garage is questionable, like why are law enforcement bureaus concerned with fast cars mainly? Why would the entire prison be freed of prisoners, just to draw 2 out of it? If Cipher is able to control all vehicles on the planet, she could have just get her hands on that one vehicle that has the Russian president in it, right? It would have caused so much more less damages & attentions. How did Dom contacted his friends and the people required while being with Cipher? Isn't he barred from any sorts of communications & furthermore, monitored 24/7? How did the team infiltrate an army base without being noticed? Why didn't Cipher take any action after knowing Deckard & Owen (Luke Evans) are on the plane? Her timely exit through a coincidental door behind where she's standing is dumb. While it doesn't make sense for Dom to save a car by risking the same car, his offer came as a compensation.