The Fate of the Furious 2017 * * 1/2 Stars

Director: F. Gary Gray
Year: 2017
Rated PG-13
Rating: * * 1/2 Stars
Cast: Vin Diesel, Dwayne Johnson, Jason Statham

There was a time when MTV was all about music videos. There was a time when Kid Rock was a rapper. There was a time when ESPN was fixated on sports. Finally, there was a time when The Fast and the Furious movies were drive-in fodder and actually about car racing. Now, Vin Diesel and company are into saving the world, redefining the concept of locomotion, and going the veritable Jason Bourne route.

The Fate of the Furious (my latest review) is the 8th installment in The Fast and the Furious franchise. Diesel and Michelle Rodriguez are the only actors left from the original flick. "Fate" has Vin's Dominic Toretto being forced to go seamlessly rogue. It's a nice little wrench in the buildup-free plot and an applicable way to keep this film series going. Expect the usual dose of lame dialogue ("I will beat you like a Cherokee drum"), mediocre acting (with the exception of villain Charlize Theron), power steering that would shame Mario Andretti, and ludicrous depictions of character globetrotting (the cast travels to Havana, Berlin, New York, and Russia all in the blink of an eye). Also, be on the lookout for silly yet heart-pounding action sequences courtesy of director F. Gary Gray (Law Abiding Citizen, Set It Off).

Whether it's cars driving themselves and falling out of buildings, automobile chases with the addition of submarines, or fight scenes that would make Chuck Norris jealous, it looks like a billion dollars was plastered on the screen (that's the box office gross "Fate" has made already). Watching The Fate of the Furious, you realize that there are enough outlandish, "yeah right" moments capable of forming a drinking game (for the record, I don't encourage this behavior).

All in all, Gray takes whatever he did in The Italian Job and kicks it up ten notches. His camera moves like a lightning bolt, making CGI, gizmo-ed gadgets, and stunt work the equivalence of a habitual drug. When The Fate of the Furious exhaustively ends, you'll immediately know that another sequel is in the works. Might as well keep the money train rolling with another dose of nonsensical, gear head entertainment. My rating: An amusing and smash-mouth, 2 and a half stars.

Written by Jesse Burleson