Review: Fast & Furious 8, If it ain't broke, add more cars and explosions regardless

One day, we'll look back and ask why, 'Why is the Fast and Furious franchise as successful as it is?' I'll tell you why. Because it doesn't pretend to be anything else other than a mad adrenaline fuelled thrill ride with more testosterone than even Dwayne Johnson can shake a stick at. That being said, Fast and Furious 8 is just that and I couldn't have been more satisfied. With the tragic loss of Paul Walker, the films have lost a part of the spirit of what it was built on, but that means there is now room for a new direction which is what this film does quite well.

We open on Dom (Vin Diesel) and Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) living a happy life in Cuba, but still driving fast cars in the most furious way possible. After a crazy race involving Dom effectively turning his car into bomb and driving it whilst on fire, he is met by a mysterious lady only known by as Cipher (Charlize Theron) and is persuaded to betray his code. This code being protecting family at all cost. This leads to a chase all over the world involving the crew: Tej (Ludacris), Roman (Tyrese Gibbs), Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) and Ramsey (Nathalie Emmanuel) with the aid of Mr Nobody's (Kurt Russell) organisation to discover Cipher's true intentions as well as bring Dom back to the family. Moving from massive action set piece to the next, the crew fight to stop Cipher's plans to ignite a nuclear war by driving their cars really fast, blowing up other cars that are driving really fast and have fist fights with the most massive men Eastern Europe has to offer.

It may seem like a basic premise that shouldn't be that exciting but it does have to be seen to be believed. It goes without saying that this is a ridiculous film with the most unrealistic scenes put to screen in this series which outshines previous mad scenes such as the runway the length of Europe in Fast and Furious 6 and dragging a giant safe full of cash with only two cars whilst also destroying downtown Rio in Fast 5. Most notably, witnessing Cipher's hacking ability in the New York act of the film is rather jaw dropping as she turns almost every car into her puppets, recreating the look of the zombie hoards in World War Z but with cars. Oh, and let's not forget how The Rock is one more movie away in this franchise from becoming a terminator. I won't say much, but a live torpedo is manhandled by him, whilst holding onto a moving car and skidding on ice, into an enemy vehicle. With two more films confirmed for the series, I can only imagine for faster and more furious they can get than this...

Keeping this a spoiler free review, I won't say what turns Dom against his family but it is presented very well by being very believable in why a man would seem to turn away from what he held most dear. We get to see a side of Dom rarely displayed in the films as he is a man who shows little signs of emotion but is not mistaken for having no emotions. For Dom this is not about a job, this is about his family, making all of what he does in this film personal.

There isn't much else to say about this film as you go in to see some explosions, fast cars racing one another, adrenaline fuelled fist fights and crazy stunts with our heroes surviving the impossible. Therefore, I can recommend the new entry in the Fast and Furious franchise as it continues to further the successful formula of the series and I will wait with anticipation to see what they bring to the big screen next. Whenever I need to escape from this reality of ours, I know I can find salvation in this film.

7.4/10

Review: Iron Fist Season 1, An average show with a very average hero

Marvel were on a good streak. Daredevil, Jessica Jones and Luke Cage were all great shows with brilliant stories, equally brilliant characters with the dynamic setting of New York City connecting our heroes within the MCU. Iron Fist was the last standalone show before we receive Defenders, with all our heroes teaming up to fight the mysterious group known as The Hand. I was therefore greatly disappointed to find that this show felt like a rushed mess with underdeveloped characters and a boring story but what hurt the most was that there was no reason to have set this in New York! 

Iron Fist follows Danny Rand (Finn Jones) who, after surviving a plane crash that killed his parents as a child, has returned to New York so he can claim his place as the rightful owner as the chief shareholder in his father's Company, Rand Corp. But in the time between the plane crash and Danny's return to civilisation, he was taken in by the monks of K'un-Lun and became the Iron Fist, the man who will defend K'un-Lun from their sworn enemies, The Hand. In returning to his old home, Danny finds that the company is not what it should be, as Joy and Ward Meachum (Jessica Stoup and Tom Pelphrey) are in charge and try to oust him from the company, doubting who he claims to be. This is where Danny befriends Colleen Wing (Jessica Henwick) and slowly starts to reintegrate himself back into society before he discovers The Hand's operations in New York and commits himself to driving them out. 

I must emphasis the work "slowly". The first half of the show contains very little martial arts or any demonstration of how the Iron Fist works. It is much more performs much more like a soap opera or drama with Danny trying to discover himself, due to having never sense of selfhood whilst in K'un-Lun. Where the fact he never really recovered, this Iron Fist do not give any episodes demonstrating how Danny's time with these monks was punishing, how the training was vigorous, how he formed a friendship with Davos (Sacha Dwahan) or how he even became the Iron Fist! But, he isn't even really the Iron Fist? (if that makes sense...) Danny barely ever uses his power and when he does it is only ever for the shorter part of any action sequence, and is not even presented to the audience till the very end of the second episode! From this point, the show has sparks that of emphasised on, for example how Danny runs Rand Corp. or his fighting the criminal underworld of New York, but the story jumps from location to location thus not making the city of New York its own character and therefore lacking the spirit that made all the other Marvel shows special. 

The trailers are nearing false advertisement as they're so action packed, giving the intention that there is a focus on the Kung Fu Danny has learned at K'un-Lun and will use his skills as a martial artist to take down his enemies. However, this is not the case in the final product. There are no extended set pieces of action, bar episode 6 which might be the most action packed one but is drowned out by clunky dialogue. 

Another disappointing flaw in this the lack of an apparent villain. Yes, Danny's sworn enemy is The Hand, but there is no individual that Danny goes face to face with. Madame Gao (Wai Ching Ho) isn't really the head of the snake, and neither is Bakuto (Ramon Rodriguez) as supposed leaders of The Hand. This leaves the Meachums. Joy isn't a villain; Ward is bad person who is constantly having internal conflicts with himself as a person but still lacks a sense of evil in his acts and so we are presented with Harold (David Wenham) as our supposed 'villain'. With implied ties to The Hand and their drug trade, he is ultimately boring and predictable. Each show is only as good as the villain, as was The Kingpin/Wilson Fisk with Nobu and his division of The Hand in Daredevil, Killgrave in Jessica Jones and Cottonmouth/Cornel Stokes in Luke Cage. 

This show just felt rushed. With its release being in the same year as Defenders, I feel that Marvel wanted to tell Danny Rand's story as fast as they could in preparation for what we, as the audience, have been waiting for with real anticipation. It is a shame we have are left with this very mediocre Netflix show, but this will all be a bad memory once New York's heroes band together to save their city. Therefore, I would advise just watch Daredevil season 2 again rather than watching this OK show. 

4.9/10