“Furious 7,” whose title sounds like a bloody western revenge tale, is the series’ most souped-up installment yet. The core cast is back in full, including Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Jordana Brewster, Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson and Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, as well as Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, who joined two films ago when the franchise was running on fumes and kicked it into overdrive.
The new film adds Jason Statham as a bad guy, Kurt Russell as a shady government official, “Game of Thrones” Nathalie Emmanuel as a super-hacker and UFC bruiser Ronda Rousey as a butt-kicking bodyguard. If that’s not enough, Lucas Black also makes a brief return, his first since starring in “Tokyo Drift,” the series’ black sheep third installment.
But even with all those bodies — its cast is the most ethnically diverse of any major franchise — the real stars of these films are the bonkers action setpieces, and “Furious 7” achieves new high points in that department. The script is centered around a couple of scenes so bananas they had to have been conceived inside a Red Bull fever dream: Can cars skydive out of an airplane? Can they smash from one skyscraper to another? If you can dream it, the “Furious 7” team — which now includes “Saw” director James Wan in the driver’s seat — does it.