The Fast and the Furious franchise has been around since 2001. Now, over fifteen years later, the seventh film in the franchise, Furious 7, is forced to take on a different approach to its central story about family and loyalty.
Anyone slightly tapped into the world of pop culture knows that Paul Walker, one of the series' integral players, passed away during filming. While filming shut down immediately following the tragic event, cast and crew eventually returned to the set with a new script and a new purpose around the project. The end result is pure beauty as the screenwriters and director James Wan recreated the story to give the proper farewell to one of their beloved stars.
But the process was not easy.
In order to complete scenes Wan reached out to Walker's two brothers (who had no experience in acting) for help. And while the process is highly unusual, watching the film you can't notice when Paul exits and his brothers enter. This is a testament to the work of everyone involved as they chose to finish the project in honor and memory of their film family.
As the series has progressed, the action sequences have become drastically less realistic. Fans don't really care, and why should they? They visual spectacle is quite mesmerizing. But where the realistic action has dropped off, the emotionally, deep-rooted subplots have taken ahold, paving way for a rather special action film that has defied all previous models.
In Furious 7, director James Wan immediately hones in on Walker's Brian O'Conner as he finds himself in the middle of a personal battle that has him torn between his loyalty to his riding gang and that of his wife and young son. A bomb explosions quickly forces him out of suburban lifestyle, but his family duties continue to play in his mind as he finds himself torn by his two families.
From the moment O'Conner rejoins the group, audiences will find themselves on pens and needles, awaiting the inevitable. This is where I truly applaud Wan and his writers. Rather than take the easy way out, they found a unique opportunity to give their friend a proper exit "“ not at the hands of a villain, but rather on his own terms, upholding his own promise. He could have easily been a sacrificial lamb for his team during their chase along the unusually barren streets of Los Angeles, but Wan made a man out of O'Conner, and he was going to have to exit his story as such.
The bond of brotherhood screams louder than the countless spinning tires in the film as Walker and Diesel's relationship is front and center from beginning to end. But what is more interesting than anything is the depth to which the two lead actors bonded off screen.
From the moment the tragic news broke Universal Pictures made it clear to Diesel that they were on board to tribute his brothers' early exit in a classy, humbling way. In an interview Diesel revealed that the studio told him early on, "We feel your soul, and we'll do whatever we have to do to honor your brother." It's a rare move for a franchise to cater so much to one of its stars, but it is this fragile approach that helps drive Furious 7 to its final scene.
It is quite obvious that the rest of the cast understood the situation, taking a backseat in some aspects to better show O'Connor and Toretto's deep past. This isn't to say that the others aren't involved in the film's storyline, but you will not find many scenes where Walker and Diesel aren't playing chicken with death only for one or the other to come to the rescue.
As the film comes to an end, you keep expecting to leave the theatre on a depressing note. But that is not what Wan wanted to create with the situation he was given. Instead the film closes with the group tackling a much larger concept of loss and defeat - acknowledging that sometimes you have to let those you love go. Instead of approaching the situation with sadness in your heart, it is better to throw it in reverse and reflect on all the good memories you had together.
Although it was the end of the road for their brother, husband, and father, it wasn't a depressing goodbye. Rather, the group paid tribute to the unbreakable bond, bidding farewell to an individual and character that embodied and lived out the word loyalty.
