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If you feel free to constantly revive characters from the dead and invent beloved just-off-screen sons to avenge their father's death five movies later, then maybe you don't actually need to try a grand two (or three?) part-er. They simultaneously made Tokyo Drift take place ten years later (to justify Han's continued inclusion) and then several years earlier again (to justify Elle's age) so they're not even limited by linear time. I know Fast Five picks up immediately after Fast & Furious. There must be at least one more sequence like that as well.
Point is, I think it would have fixed a lot about this one to let the story conclude. Or, rather, some of the decisions I don't like may have been based on their desire to stretch it to two movies. For instance, it felt like the gang didn't get a lot of screen time for such a long movie. I think Dante Reyes was the biggest beneficiary of that screen time, and while I didn't hate him as a villain, I thought his affectations got a little bit stale. I guess Jacob and kid-Brian got a lot of time too and they were kind of adorable. But it was annoying how clearly they were setting up his death - which also didn't seem earned by the logic of the scene. I'm usually pretty credulous about that kind of stuff, so if I pick up on it then I assume they went way over the top.
I needed more of the gang in this, and that played as more glaring when they didn't really balance the plotlines they prioritized *or* finish the actual story. I actually think it's possible for them to turn this around for the next (or next next) movie, but somebody's got to make some better decisions about who's on screen. I'm not sure the post-credits reveal is promising in that regard. But the other, just-before-the-credits reveal was my favorite. I didn't even like Gal Gadot's character and find her hostile to the concept of acting, but that was such a stupid, bonkers moment that it felt like old, familiar Fast & Furious fun.
And finally, some of the stunts looked shitty. That doesn't happen very often in these movies. Again, I'm really credulous, so if I hated some of the stunts that means that people that know what they're talking about must hate them. ______________________________
"Walleye, a lot of things are going to go wrong in your life that technically aren't your fault. Always remember that this doesn't make you any less of an idiot"
--Walleye's Dad
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