Movie review: Fast & Furious 8 revs up to all-out mayhem
Charlize Theron is turning into an ace supervillain.
If you thought she was fabulously wicked in Snow White And The Huntsman (2012) and its 2016 sequel, she has upped her game here.
As the playmaker in this eighth instalment of the 16-year-old action franchise, she twists Vin Diesel's tree-trunk arms easily with mere words.
The reason Dominic goes rogue is understandable, as it fits the series' theme of family.
Unfortunately, Cipher's motivations are silly.
That essentially sums up what the billion-dollar Fast & Furious machine has become.
When it first began in 2001, Diesel and gang were all about car racing and petty crime.
Now, they have morphed into a wannabe James Bond paramilitary team, and the action sequences just get more over-the-top with every passing flick.
Action junkies and franchise fans will no doubt find them spectacular though.
The last movie showed us cars can fly.
This one takes the cake with "raining" cars - literally - and "zombie" cars.
A remote-controlled nuclear submarine? Sure! The bigger the better, right?
At the rate the series is going, Diesel will soon be driving cars in space.
Director F. Gary Gray, fresh from his 2015 Oscar-nominated biopic Straight Outta Compton, clearly hasn't forgotten his action roots, though it is a pity he doesn't give his The Italian Job leading lady Theron any action parts.
Still, Fast & Furious 8 cruises along easily enough because of the cast's chemistry.
Jason Statham's spy/baddie Deckard Shaw contributes some of the most fun moments, and joining him is Helen Mirren, who is such a hoot.
While this isn't the best in the series, it should have enough gas to rake in the money and keep this vehicle going.
Rating: 3/5
MOVIE: Fast & Furious 8
STARRING: Vin Diesel, Charlize Theron, Dwayne Johnson, Jason Statham, Michelle Rodriguez, Helen Mirren, Kurt Russell
DIRECTOR: F. Gary Gray
THE SKINNY: Dominic Toretto's (Diesel) tight-knit family falls apart when he hooks up with the mysterious Cipher (Theron) and returns to a life of crime.
RATING: PG13
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