“Fast 8” — A Story of Family and Racing

Here is a review by Adeeba C. — in progress:

Dinner Table Scene from the “Fast” series. Picture used courtesy of Universal Pictures.

From the very first film in the series, there is a scene at Dom’s house (Dom is Brian’s best friend). We enter from the driveway. We see Dom’s Challenger – the car that he and his father built when he was younger.  Next, we see a typical happy family scene – boisterous, lots of drinking – and Dom, as always, seated at the head. It seems to us like the perfect family dinner, and it’s our first introduction to their family dynamic: happy, close-knit. They pray together.

From that scene on, in each movie, at the end, we always end up at that same house, at that same table. We see the family united, all together. “Family is the most important word in these movies,” says Manohlia Dargis, of The New York Times, and I would agree. Even at the end of the franchise, the film could not have been made if a family member hadn’t helped. When Brian dies, his brother, Cody Walker, acts for him. In the editing process, Paul’s face was added. In real life, family, came to the rescue of the filmmakers, echoing the theme of family in the film itself.

That said, Stephanie Merry of The Washington Post said, “This film is a predictable mess.” I would disagree. Could Merry have predicted that Paul Walker would have been in a fatal car accident? Could Merry know the filmmakers chose to slice his head of his body in the name of art? She may not like the film, but I would argue that it was hardly “predictable.” Fate won in this game.