Furious 7 actually takes its time getting to the real meaty action. Which brings me back to my original point regarding the series’ maturing: you realize that while they were just a bunch of street racin’ kids at the series outset, you’ve really, truly come to care about these characters. You hope that Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) regains her memory. You hope that Hobbs, who’s revealed to have a daughter, gets out of that bed and is back to being the skull crackin’ DEA agent you hated when he first appeared in Fast Five, but were completely endeared to by the end of F&F6. And of course, you hope that Brian makes it out of this one, because you know what happened, not two years ago, to the man that plays him.

It’s that underlying theme the permeates the whole experience; you really want to watch very closely, because whether there will be an 8th episode or not, it will never be quite the same without Walker, who made his name after starring in The Fast and the Furious. In a smart off-screen nod to the importance of family (Dom’s line on “family” from the trailers is corny, but it does well to illustrate a very important theme that has developed within this franchise over the years), Walker’s brothers—Caleb and Cody—are on-hand to finish the work Walker couldn’t do before his untimely passing.

Indeed, when he did die, there was a chance that F7 wouldn’t get finished at all. When you consider how tight and real the on-screen chemistry is, though, you really get the impression that off-camera, this group of actors is a close-knit one. It’s almost as if they had to finish the movie, if nothing else than to honour Walker.

Of course, when the action does get going, it gets going thick and fast, and we’re privy to some of the slickest stunts ever seen not just in this franchise, but in the Bourne Identity, Lethal Weapon, Die Hard and Matrix franchises combined. I’m not kidding; I mean, they drop muscle cars out of the back of a plane, on purpose. Who does that?

Director James Wan (Saw, Insidious), free of his horror-movie shackles, does just that and more. He’s attacked the subject matter with vigour, creating an action masterpiece that should be seen, whether you’re a fan of the franchise, of action movies in general, or of movies that are true to their source material, but are able to leave their comfort zone to tug on your heartstrings as well.

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