Fate of the Furious Is Action-Packed Absurdity

Once, there was a "family" of car enthusiasts working out of a dirty garage. Now, that family must stop an evil hacker who's enlisted one of their own in a plot for world domination. Oh, how things change. Here's what critics are saying about The Fate of the Furious, the eighth installment in the Fast and Furious franchise and certainly not the last:

• "If the fate of the Furious series is to grow somehow both wearier and dumber with age, then the eighth film is proof of a mission firmly accomplished," writes Barry Hertz at the Globe and Mail. Why, then, has he given the film three stars out of four? Because despite its unbelievability, it's "genuinely thrilling" with "more everything and anything. It's stupid, but it's the sort of stupid that comes bearing gifts," he says.
• Yes, the series is known for its ridiculous action scenes. But Sam Adams has had about enough. "It feels like the movies have gotten as big as they can get, and the gleeful absurdity that drove them is losing ground to the specter of obligation," he writes at Slate. The scenes featuring Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham, however, "are some of Fate's best."

• Stephanie Merry agrees "putting Statham and Johnson together is a particularly ingenious move" and "their constant bickering is among the movie's main pleasures." But the "clunky dialogue and absurd plot twists" suggest the franchise "peaked three movies ago," she writes at the Washington Post. At least the action "doesn't disappoint," which is all fans are likely to care about.
• If you're willing to throw logic out the window, you're in for "a wildly entertaining thrill ride that never lets its foot off the gas," despite a running time of over two hours, writes Adam Graham at Detroit News. He particularly applauds the "unquestionable levels of silliness" and notes director F. Gary Gray "has a great sense of rhythm and keeps things rolling."

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