Rotten Tomatoes: 81% The Fast and Furious franchise has surprised everyone with its longevity and financial success. Some may argue that Vin Diesel sold his soul to the devil to get the grosses up on this once-ailing franchise, but the truth is less supernatural in nature. Diesel and the head honchos at Universal simply stumbled onto a winning formula. Insane stunts (some practical, most not), globe-trotting adventures, and a veritable who's-who of action movie stars (whoever referred to the Rock as 'franchise viagra' was on to something). The Fast and Furious franchise is, at this point, what The Expendables wanted to be - and that franchise even loaned out Jason Statham to appear as the bad guy here. Speaking of Statham, his Deckard Shaw has one of the best, most ridiculous intros of any bad guy ever. A touching visit to the hospital to check in on his brother (the villain from the previous entry) is revealed to have actually been an all-out assault on it, as the Stath strolls out of a building that would now look more at home in 1942 during the Blitz. It's all ridiculously, supremely fitting for the renowned bombast of the franchise. Things only get more batsh*t from there, as cars are driven from skyscraper to skyscraper and out of planes(!) willy-nilly. Furious 7 remains one of the best action films of the year thanks to its hugely emotional sendoff for Paul Walker in the closing moments, as the actor tragically lost his life during filming. Audiences voted with their wallets when it came to this instalment, and the verdict was that implausible action films with a heart of gold are alright. To the tune of $1.5 billion.
Cinephile since 1993, aged 4, when he saw his very first film in the cinema - Jurassic Park - which is also evidence of damn fine parenting. World champion at Six Degrees of Separation. Lender of DVDs to cheap mates. Connoisseur of Marvel Comics and its Cinematic Universe.
