Category Archives: Film Fodder

“Magic Mike XXL” is this summer’s feel-good coming of (middle) age story

Channing Tatum returns as Magic Mike in “Magic Mike XXL”. Photo by Claudette Barius.

I’m not gay or nothing, but I really liked the first Magic Mike movie a few years ago. At first I only went to see it because I thought John Cena was the star. Then I realized that was actually Channing Tatum, who was in those G.I. Joe movies with The Rock. He also played a wrassler in that Foxcatcher movie. So, he’s pretty good. But then I saw that Kevin Nash was in it, and it’s just too sweet to see Big Sexy getting some screen time.

Since I thought the first movie was pretty good, I figured I’d Magic Mike XXL, too. I’m actually trying to get down to a size XXL T-shirt. I used to wear 6X, but now I’m down to 5X. Been eatin’ a little better, you know. MMXXL takes place three years after the first movie, which actually came out three years ago. Magic Mike has gotten out of the stripper industry and handles his wood a lot. I realize how that sounds, but what I mean is that he has become a carpenter. He said he wanted to build furniture in the first movie, so I guess he has grabbed that brass ring and is living the dream.

Kevin Nash stars as Tarzan in “Magic Mike XXL”. Photo by Claudette Barius.

Tarzan (that’s Kevin Nash’s gimmick) calls him one day and says the Kings of Tampa are getting the band back together to compete in a stripper contest in Myrtle Beach. Dallas (Matthew McConaughey, not Page) is no longer the leader of their faction, but it looks like the rest of the stable is back. Even Gabriel Iglesias, who is friends with Dallas Page in real life, is back as a food truck vendor. Even though he’s been doing DDP Yoga, he’s still not in as good a shape as the rest of this clique. I guess that’s why they call him Fluffy.

So they leave Tampa in the food truck for what turns into more of a road trip adventure than a stripper movie. One of the first things they decide to do before they get to Myrtle Beach is to change their gimmicks up a little bit. So they actually end up throwing all their gimmicks from the first movie out the window before Fluffy falls asleep at the wheel and wrecks the food truck. Then they go to Savannah to visit Mike’s old friend Rome (Jada Pinkett Smith), who runs a private male strip club. She basically becomes their manager, helps them come up with new gimmicks and adds a few of her boys to the stable.

Before they get to Myrtle Beach, they meet up with Nancy (Andie MacDowell) and her friends so they can practice their spots, if you know what I mean. When they get to the stripper convention, Elizabeth Banks is running the show and isn’t going to let them in. Then she sees Rome and I guess they have some history because then she lets them in. (I haven’t seen Pitch Perfect 2 yet because I never saw the first one. But did you know Banks directed that movie, and that Lana is in it? It might be pretty good.)

Joe Manganiello is Big Dick Richie in “Magic Mike XXL”. Photo by Claudette Barius.

At first it looks like the Kings of Tampa might not go over. There’s some other group doing a Twilight gimmick that the crowd is really popping for. Big Dick Richie (Joe Manganiello) gets mad and calls it “vampire bullshit,” which is funny because my cousin told me Big Dick played a werewolf on True Blood. I also saw him on Raw one time, and I think he was in a WWE movie with Mr. Kennedy.

The Kings of Tampa end up showing that they are true veterans of this business and the crowd lets them know they’ve still got it. A lot of times it looks like they are doing wrestling moves on women from the audience, but they’re working pretty light so no one actually gets hurt. The dirt sheets say Ric Flair was supposed to be in this movie, but I didn’t see him. But I definitely would have popped to see The Nature Boy stylin’ and profilin’ on the big screen. Still, Magic Mike XXL is a feel-good movie that plays out like a wrasslin’ angle about workers who are a little past their primes getting one last run before they ride off into the sunset. I mean, it makes me feel pretty good.

Genetically enhanced dinosaurs do battle in “Jurassic World”

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Photo courtesy of Universal Pictures and Amblin Entertainment.

Even though I mostly watch wrasslin’, I’ve been pretty excited about Jurassic World for a while now. This movie picks up 22 years after Jurassic Park, with a new company opening a dinosaur theme park called Jurassic World on the same island from the first movie. But it’s been open so long that seeing a gigantic Mosasaur is no more exciting than seeing Shamu at Sea World. So these scientists create the Indominus rex, which is a hybrid dinosaur mutant that’s even bigger and scarier than the Tyrannosaurus rex!

So, the Indominus rex figures out a way to hide from the thermal cameras and trick everyone into thinking it has escaped its enclosure. (I’m not a scientist or anything, but I’m pretty sure reptiles are cold blooded, and this dinosaur is basically a giant reptile. So why would they be using thermal cameras in the first place?) Some people go in to figure out how it escaped, only to find out that it’s still in there with them. Then it actually does escape because the people open this big door to try and get out and the dinosaur gets through before it closes all the way. It’s kind of like when a wrestler hides under the ring during a battle royal, then gets back in the ring and throws the last guy over the top rope.

Photo by Chuck Zlotnick.

Owen (Chris Pratt) is one of the people that falls for the Indominus rex’s trick. He already ripped off Harrison Ford’s Han Solo gimmick in Guardians of the Galaxy, now he’s ripping off Ford’s Indiana Jones gimmick in this movie. He’s been training the Velociraptors like dogs, so park manager Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard) asks him to help her figure out how to catch the Indominus rex. But she forgets about her nephews (Nick Robinson and Ty Simpkins) and they end up stuck in this big hamster ball ride until the Indominus rex tries to eat them.

After the two kids escape, they find the old Jurassic Park. They somehow get a 1992 Jeep that hasn’t been started in more than 20 years running within, like, an hour or so. Just when it looks like they are reaching safety, a bunch of winged dinosaurs escape and start killing people all over the park. Some of these things must be hybrids, too, because they look like pterodactyls with little T. rex heads. Then this heel InGen security guy (Vincent D’Onofrio) takes over the park and plans on using Owen’s raptors to kill the Indominus rex. Owen’s a good guy, so he doesn’t want to do that. But since he’s the only one who can control the raptors, he has to go along with the plan. So, he rides into battle on a motorcycle alongside the raptors, even though they almost killed him earlier in the movie when he saved a guy who fell into their enclsoure.

Photo courtesy of ILM/Universal Pictures and Amblin Entertainment.

There are a lot of parts of Jurassic World that remind me of Aliens, especially when a bunch of soldiers looking for the Indominus rex at night in the jungle all have trackers and helmet cameras like the Marines in Aliens. And they all get killed just like the Marines in Aliens. Then the raptors show up to fight the Indominus rex, but the Indominus rex has some raptor genes in it and is able to make the raptors turn heel and attack the humans. The next part is a total swerve, so I’m not going to spoil it for you. But I popped big time at the surprising face turn by a true Jurassic Park veteran during the main event of the movie.

Jurassic World is a pretty good movie. I mean, these dinosaurs are some pretty good workers and they put on good performances with a lot of high spots. I don’t really know if all the science stuff is accurate, but it has some insane action and fight scenes.

www.jurassicworldmovie.com

Whannell adequately Furthers the horror with “Insidious: Chapter 3”

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Insidious was one of my favorite movies of 2011 and one of my favorite mainstream horror films in years. So much so, in fact, that I even wrote a song called “The Further” that I perform with my band The Casket Creatures! I have always been a sucker for paranormal horror, so I was thrilled with the way Insidious took a classic formula and proceeded to go batshit crazy with it. Introducing us to an otherworldly realm called The Further, various ghouls, spirits and demons along the way made Insidious a franchise that could go on forever if the quality didn’t decline.

Quinn (Stefanie Scott) is the victim of the evil spirits from The Further in “Insidious: Chapter 3”. Photo by Matt Kennedy.

Insidious: Chapter 2 was a solid follow up in 2013, with fewer scares, but more backstory that seemed to make the first movie feel complete. When Insidious: Chapter 3 was announced, I was beyond excited – that is until I found out director James Wan was leaving the franchise to direct The Rock in Furious 7. I was very concerned that the atmosphere and the movie as a whole just wouldn’t feel the same, and that would kill it for me. About ten minutes into the movie, however, all of these fears went away and I realized that Leigh Whannell, who wrote the first two Insidious films and assumes the roles of both writer and director for this one, knows exactly what he is doing with this franchise. He nailed the pacing, sound design and the overall atmosphere of the other two films, which I imagine would have been hard for anyone else to do.

Chapter 3 is a prequel to the original that, at first glance, would leave you to believe that it is about a new family with new ghost/demon problems. Same Further, different day. The plot involving the new family is very well done and I really found myself caring about these people and the horrible things that they were going through. Immobilizing protagonist Quinn (Stefanie Scott) for most of the movie offers a unique tension throughout the film. In my eyes, the star of the movie is the medium Elise, played by the incredible actress Lin Shaye, reprising her role from the first two films. At this point in the Insidious timeline, Elise has sworn off using her gift and is very fearful for reasons that are revealed as the story progresses. Seeing her character progress into the badass we all know is extremely gratifying. The lovable ghost hunting duo of Specs (Whannell, who has some great tongue-in-cheek dialogue) and Tucker (Angus Sampson) turns up as well to show us a very amusing look at their early relationship with Elise, the woman they grow to respect and work closely with in the future. (Wan also makes a cameo, appropriately enough, as a theater casting director.)

Quinn's father Sean (Dermont Mulroney, left) talks to the ghost hunting duo of Tucker (Angus Sampson) and Specs (Leigh Whannell) about how to save his daughter from The Further. Photo by Matt Kennedy.

Quinn’s father Sean (Dermont Mulroney, left) talks to paranormal investigators Tucker (Angus Sampson, center) and Specs (Leigh Whannell, right) about how to save his daughter from The Further. Photo by Matt Kennedy.

There are things about this installment that I’m not crazy about. The segments in The Further, for example, aren’t as awe-inspiring and chilling as they were before. Something about this whole film feels more grounded and less surreal than the first two. It losses a little bit of the insanity and it lowers the stakes overall. That being said, it is a very strong entry to the franchise and, if the quality stays at this high level, I will continue to look forward to future installments as they come out. I highly suggest Insidious: Chapter 3 if you are looking for a worthy theatrical horror experience. In a world full of mainstream horror remakes and reboots, it is good to know that films like Insidious are out there creating new worlds and lore and trying to scare the pants off audiences around the world.

www.insidiouschapter3.com

McCarthy completes her comedic mission in secret agent parody “Spy”

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Synopsis: Melissa McCarthy stars as restless desk jockey CIA agent Susan Cooper, who is the virtual eyes and ears for charismatic field agent Bradley Fine (Jude Law), in writer/director Paul Feig’s Spy. After the identities of the team’s members are compromised, the unassuming Susan is sent into the field to observe and report back, likely to never be suspected since she doesn’t possess the athletic good looks of her peers. After the mission is compromised by over-the-top agent Rick Ford (Jason Statham), Susan must take matters into her own hands.

Susan Cooper (Melissa McCarthy) and Rick Ford (Jason Statham) are one of the most dysfunctional undercover couples ever. Photo by Larry Horricks.

Review: The team of Feig and McCarthy once again bring a hilarious and action-packed movie to the screen, with superb writing and comedic timing. Criminal arms dealers hoping to unload a nuclear weapon are surprisingly thwarted by Susan, who is assigned only to observe undetected. As things spiral out of control, however, it is up to Susan to save the day.

Spy is McCarthy’s best film since Bridesmaids (also directed by Feig), and the comedic writing is top notch, working extremely well as a comedy and fairly well as a spy thriller. It is a hysterical send-up of secret agent movies, and retains the core elements of the spy genre, recalling spy comedies such as Archer, the Austin Powers films, The Naked Gun and The Pink Panther series. But the comedy is no holds barred, and Susan is portrayed as being capable and cognizant rather than bumbling through her scenes.

McCarthy shines in this role and there are many great comedic moments, many of which come from the back and forth between Susan and her nemesis Rayna Boyanov, played by her Bridesmaids costar Rose Byrne. Statham, as a blustering, overly-confident rogue agent, plays a parody of his own hyper masculine action heroes, and does it with great humor and enthusiasm. The film also features some great cameos, including Michael McDonald of MADtv fame.

McCarthy in one of her more unflattering undercover roles in “Spy”. Photo by Larry Horricks.

The action aspect of the film plays well as a satirical vehicle for comedy. The fight choreography and chases make for plentiful frenetic action, and the film possesses all the touchstones of the spy thriller; fast cars, beautiful women, exotic locations and high-tech gadgetry (though Susan’s concealed weapons aren’t exactly as sexy or flattering as she’d like them to be). The comedy in the film runs the gamut of situational, slapstick, scalding derision, crude verbal humor and sight gags, keeping the audience laughing until the end.

This is a great summer date movie filled with action, thrills and, foremost, comedy. Spy really shows McCarthy becoming one of today’s great comedic talents, and I’d liken her to a female John Candy.

www.foxmovies.com/movies/spy

“Saint Laurent” designs a loosely-threaded biopic about a French fashion icon

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I’ve seen the YSL clothing logo for years and am familiar with the name Yves Saint Laurent as a clothing designer. Other than that, however, I really don’t know very much about the French fashion icon. Focusing on the height of his creative output from 1967 to 1976, Bertrand Bernello’s Saint Laurent is an informative biographical film that shows us a talented and innovative (yet troubled) creative talent. Saint Laurent is portrayed by Gaspard Ulliel as a chain-smoker who parties with a harem of male and female companions and counts Andy Warhol as a fan of his work. Sounds pretty interesting, right? However, despite the fact that the film alerts us, in bold red numbers, of the chronology of events by year, the narrative is offered in seemingly random snippets of events rather than a cohesive story, with nothing threading it all together in any obvious way. As a result, we’re offered an equal mix of somewhat interesting looks into his creative and social life and utterly mundane moments that linger longer than needed.

One of the main problems with Saint Laurent is that it does little to explain why Saint Laurent is who he is, how he became the celebrated designer he became. A quick glance at his Wikipedia page offers more insight into his background than this movie does. (Apparently there is another movie called Yves Saint Laurent that provides a better look at his early life, but I haven’t seen that movie.) As a result, it’s difficult to find any emotional connection to Saint Laurent or any other character in the movie. In fact, my strongest emotional response was during a drug-and-alcohol fueled scene that finds a bloody Saint Laurent passed out on top of a broken liquor bottle. But it’s not his debauched antics that are worrisome. Instead its his beloved dog who, after ingesting a spilled bottle of pills, lies across the room spasming. Ailing animals always tug at an audience’s heartstrings. But when I’m more concerned about the dog than I am about the main character (especially when that main character is an actual person and not a fictional character), the film is failing on an important level.

As Saint Laurent enters its final act, we see the designer having his most professional success while suffering from health issues and personal setbacks. This is the most engaging portion of the movie as things are simultaneously falling into place and falling apart. We also see an older Saint Laurent reflecting on his successes and losses, which is somewhat confusing at first given that there is no obvious indication that the film has jumped to the future. I don’t so much mind the back and forth between the ailing younger Saint Laurent and the retrospective elder Saint Laurent (especially since the latter scenes trump the 1976 rumors of his death). However, given that the rest of the film clearly indicates what year it is, it takes a moment to figure out what is going on (and when it’s happening).

Ultimately, Saint Laurent feels like a collection of fabrics and sketches scattered about rather than assembled into a finished piece. Perhaps Bernello is trying to replicate the sometimes haphazard nature of Saint Laurent’s own clothing designs and I’m just missing the point. Even if that’s the case, however, the film could benefit from trimming away some of the monotonous moments and focusing on simpler, more exciting design.

sonyclassics.com/saintlaurent/

“Fury Road” is a furiously fantastic addition to the “Mad Max” franchise

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Tom Hardy as Mad Max and Charlize Theron as Imperator Furiosa in George Miller’s “Mad Max: Fury Road”. Photo by Jasin Boland.

With his incredibly low budget 1979 film Mad Max, director George Miller all but invented the post-apocalyptic action film genre. With two sequels (1981’s The Road Warrior and 1985’s Beyond Thunderdome), Miller established himself as a visionary filmmaker, simultaneously launching Mel Gibson’s acting career. After venturing about as far away from his dystopian Australian wasteland as possible with his family-friendly Babe and Happy Feet movies, Miller returns to the Mad Max franchise 30 years later with Mad Max: Fury Road. And it’s more than just my feet that are happy about this fact.

With Tom Hardy now wearing the rugged leather jacket of Mad Max, this lone wolf is reluctantly (and literally) dragged into the weird world of King Immortan Joe, who is trying to repopulate the desert by impregnating his five beautiful wives (Zoë Kravitz, Riley Keough, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Abbey Lee and Courtney Eaton) as many times as possible. Powered by an army of pasty bald slaves known as his War Boys, Joe’s Metropolis-like city controls an underground water source, which he, of course, deprives of the hoi polloi with warnings of the masses becoming addicted to hydration. It should be pointed out that, though there is no indication that there is any connection between the two characters, Joe is played by Hugh Keays-Byrne, who played Toecutter in the first Mad Max film. Considering the definitive demise Toecutter suffered at the end of that film, and the fact that Joe is obscured by fiberglass armor and a sinister skeleton-like mask for Fury Road‘s duration, it really wouldn’t make much sense for Keays-Byrne’s appearance here to be more than a subversive cameo for fans of the original trilogy.

Former WWE wrestler Nathan Jones portrays Rictus Erectus and Huy Keays-Byrne (Toecutter form the original "Mad Max") is Immortan Joe in "Fury Road". Photo by Jasin Boland.

Former WWE wrestler Nathan Jones portrays Rictus Erectus and Hugh Keays-Byrne (Toecutter form the original “Mad Max”) is Immortan Joe in “Fury Road”. Photo by Jasin Boland.

When Imperator Furiosa (Charlize Theron) heads out on what appears to be a routine water transport, it soon becomes apparent that she has other intentions as she veers her armored rig off path into hostile desert territories. The War Boys give chase, with Nux (Nicholas Hoult) being the most determined to impress the king by returning his wives, who are stowed away within Furiosa’s truck. With the captured Max chained to the front of his hot rod war machine, and intravenously connected to him for strength, Nux sprays chrome stuff on his teeth (not sure what that’s about) and is brave (or stupid) enough to follow Furiosa into a sandstorm filled with fiery tornados and other deadly dangers.

Max awakens, still chained to Nux, after the storm passes and in a moment of comic relief finds what looks to be a mirage as Joe’s lovely wives are splashing each other with a water hose like Playmates in the Playboy Mansion grotto. That fantasy dissipates quickly as Max, Furiosa and Nux engage in an awesome fight, only to find that Joe and his army are still in close pursuit. I forgot to mention that part of Joe’s war party is a towering truck with a wall of war drummers on the back and a demented Pan’s Labyrinth-looking guitar player (played by Australian musician iOTA) on the front. This ridiculous (in a good way) detail amuses me throughout the movie, and the guitarist is eventually rather instrumental (pun intended) in the outcome of the final battle.

Nicholas Hoult is Nux, a War Boy-turned-hero in “Mad Max: Fury Road”. Photo by Jasin Boland

Anyway, Max, Nux, the brides and Furiosa (and her mechanical hand) run into numerous obstacles as they flee Joe, the perverted People Eater (John Howard), the Bullet Farmer (Richard Carter) and the Lord Humungus-in-training-like Prince Rictus Erectus (former WWE star Nathan Jones) in hopes of finding a mythical place where water flows freely, plants grow greenly and people live in harmony. Amidst the explosive battles involving modified monster trucks, dirt bike warriors and other armored-car action are things that the Mad Max films aren’t really known for: subtleties. The most notable of which is the occasional glimmer (of hope?) in the eyes of the protagonists. Even Max and Furiosa, the most cynical heroes in this pessimistic world, show these shimmers as they find an unlikely group of old women allies and prepare to take the fight directly to Joe and his army. With the odds stacked against them, the element of surprise is about all they have going for them as they realize the paradise they are looking for can only be found if they take out Joe and assume power over his water supply and crops.

The grand finale, much like the fast-paced fight scenes throughout the film, employ some of the best use of CGI I think I’ve ever seen. With Fury Road, Miller has found a way to provide an enormous spectacle while maintaining the indie grittiness of the original films. Hardy evokes the primal lunacy of the Mad Max character better than I expected him to, portraying him as the slightly disturbed loner he’s always been. If Fury Road is any indication of Max’s future adventures, we have plenty of dystopian delights to look forward to.

www.madmaxmovie.com

James Wan revs up the humanity, drama and believability in “Furious 7”

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Tyrese Gibson, Michelle Rodriguez, Paul Walker and Lidacris reprise their roles in “Furious 7”. Photo by Scott Garfield.

Whether you love or hate the The Fast and the Furious movies, there’s no denying their box office success and escapist appeal. I honestly never had much interest in the franchise until WWE superstar The Rock became a fixture with 2011’s Fast Five. Even then, I recognized that these are still big dumb action movies that require more than a reasonable suspension of disbelief and offer little more than a bunch of crazy stunts and spectacular fight scenes. When I found out Furious 7 would be directed by James Wan, better known for directing cerebral horror films like Saw and Insidious, I was more than curious to see how this latest sequel would turn out.

Wan puts the proverbial pedal to the metal early on as government agent Luke Hobbs (Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson) meets Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham), who seeks revenge for the death of his younger brother Owen Shaw (Luke Evans) in Fast & Furious 6. The result of this meeting is an amazing fight sequence that results in Hobbs plummeting several stories, landing on top of a car and ending up in the hospital with a broken arm and other injuries.

Kurt Russell (right) plays the secretive government agent that recruits Dominic (Vin Diesel, left) and his crew in “Furious 7”. Photo by Scott Garfield.

Dominic (Vin Diesel) and his crew of car-racing criminals become Shaw’s next target, and it doesn’t take long for them to figure out they’re being hunted. After Dom gives chase, resulting in a brutal head-on collision between him and Shaw, in steps Kurt Russell as a mysterious government agent who recruits Dom for a covert operation. In exchange for rescuing a hacker named Ramsey, creator of a Big Brother-esque program known as God’s Eye that allows one to hack into any surveillance system on the planet, from her overseas kidnappers, Dom will be allowed to use this program to track Shaw and stop him before he takes out his entire crew.

The globetrotting adventures commence with cars parachuting onto mountain roads from a plane and a chase scene that is choreographed much like a battle royal, with Roman (Tyrese Gibson) being taken out early on only to return at the perfect moment to save the day. Brian (Paul Walker) fights Kiet (Muay Thai star Tony Jaa) on a Road Warrior-esque bus that eventually slides to the edge of a cliff, forcing Brian to climb out and race up the side of the bus as it slides over the cliff. Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) arrives just in time for Brian to grab the spoiler of her car, preventing him from toppling over the cliff with the bus.

After rescuing the surprisingly beautiful Ramsey (Nathalie Emmanuel), the race moves to the Middle East, where Dom is forced to drive an incredibly expensive car out the window of one skyscraper, into the window of another skyscraper, out another window and into another skyscraper before he and Brian jump from the car, allowing it to crash below (thankfully there were no pedestrians around). Meanwhile, Letty and Kara (Ultimate Fighting Championship Women’s Bantamweight Champion “Rowdy” Ronda Rousey) have an impressive bout. Unfortunately Rousey and The Rock don’t share any screen time, despite their recent interaction at WrestleMania.

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson channels Jesse “The Body” Ventura in this climactic scene from “Furious 7”. Photo by Scott Garfield.

Later, back in Los Angeles, Ramsey and Tej (Ludacris) try to hack God’s Eye and regain control of it. Jakande (Djimon Hounsou), using the God’s Eye to track them, is hot on their trail in a helicopter. In order to stay one step ahead of Jakande, Ramsey is forced to jump from one car to the next as they race past each other. From his hospital bed, Hobbs sees what is happening and, after powering out of his full-arm cast and stealing an ambulance, comes to the rescue. In a scene reminiscent of fellow wrestler-turned-actor Jesse “The Body” Ventura in Predator, The Rock then tears a machine gun off a downed drone and opens fire on the pursuing helicopter. I’m mentioning these sequences not as spoilers, but to point out that the action in Furious 7 is just as ridiculous as its predecessors. However, Wan is able to portray these scenes in such a way that they seem possible, no matter how implausible they might actually be.

Furious 7 also revs up the drama just enough to make it more compelling than the previous films. The fact that Walker died (in a car accident no less) during a break in the filming of this movie probably adds to that dramatic quotient a good bit. It’s easy to suspect that each time his character is in danger he might be the next one killed off. But Wan finds a much more tasteful way to explain why Brian won’t be in any future installments of this franchise, also serving as an emotional homage to Walker’s contributions to this series.

Other than that, there seem to be more closeups of shapely female body parts and other gratuitous sexuality than I recall in previous installments (no complaints here). The Rock says “sumbitch” far fewer times than he did in Fast & Furious 6, which is a good thing. There’s also a cameo by Iggy Azalea, which is kind of funny. Though I do feel Wan offers a little more humanity and believability, I’m not certain I would have noticed these differences had I not, as a Wan fan, been looking for them. But I will say that Furious 7 is, by far, the best Fast & Furious film I’ve seen (which isn’t many), and I am looking forward to seeing what else he might do with this franchise.

www.furious7.com