A few hundred attendees of the South by Southwest (SXSW) festival in Austin, Texas, got lucky on Sunday: They got to watch a surprise screening of Furious 7, the latest Fast & Furious film, which was extensively filmed in Abu Dhabi and will release in the UAE on April 2. The screening was attended by the film’s star Tyrese Gibson as well as director James Wan.
SXSW is a series of music, film and trade conferences held annually, and over the years, have seen a number of celebrities attend to promote their latest projects.
“One of my proudest moments introducing Furious 7, my friends, and more importantly my #FastFamily,” tweeted Gibson after the screening. “It’s love...It’s a LOT of love out there...”
“Thank you @sxsw & everyone who came to tonight’s #Furious7 screening. What an incredible and emotional experience. Paul would be proud,” Wan also tweeted.
Paul Walker, who plays one of the main characters in the film, died in an accident in 2013 while the action flick was still in production. The Fast & Furious franchise has made more than $2 billion at the global box office.
But early reviews of the latest film have not been so favourable, with many critics calling it “dumb” and “stupid”. To be fair, Fast & Furious films have never been critical darlings, despite their massive box office draws.
Furious 7 picks up from Fast & Furious 6, and sees Deckard Shaw, played by Jason Statham, who sets out to avenge his brother Owen Shaw’s death. Meanwhile an all-seeing surveillance programme called God’s Eye has been stolen by terrorists. The crew, comprising of actors Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Dwayne Johnson, Michelle Rodriguez, Jordana Brewster, Tyrese Gibson and Ludacris return for some more action.
The Hollywood Reporter called the film “stupendously stupid”, adding though that it was an honourable exit for Walker.
“The knowledge of his death in a November 2013 car accident colours our experience of this unintentional swan song in many ways, of course, but viewers trying to spot the scenes in which stand-ins and CGI played Walker’s part for him will find it hard enough that they may do the right thing: Stop trying, and instead go along with a reworked screenplay that ushers him off the stage with as much grace as any other development in this muscle-car-melodrama saga,” it wrote.
“We needn’t say much about the plot, either. Bare bones,” it added.
Russ Fischer of the blog Slash Film tweeted after the show: “I’ve seen a lot of dumb movies, and FURIOUS 7 is among the dumbest. That might be a compliment. I can’t even tell anymore.”
But not all reviews were scathing.
Writing for Movies.com, Peter S. Hall said: “Furious 7 [is] so, so good at ensemble action. So many moving pieces all deftly managed. Sells the insane with ease, the emotion with grace.”
“Furious 7 is exactly what you want it to be. Unreal action sequences, tons of badass & a fantastic send off for Paul Walker,” wrote Erik Davis of Fandango.com.
Piya Sinha-Roy of the Reuters news agency said the film stayed true to the franchise.
“Wow... #Furious7 is a nail-biter: crazy action sequences, all about the family of the franchise,” she tweeted.
“Any attempt of realism has been completely abandoned,” tweeted Amirose Eisenbach of AMC Movie News. “More outrageous stunts & dialogue than ever. Unfiltered fun!”
