eddmurua

It would be interesting to know how long it took to write this script, which doesn't even meet the most basic foundations of any decent film, almost as if it were deliberately written badly, as a protest against the studio for forcing such a soulless product into the market.

I say that because there are barely any characters or story. There are a few meaningless names, and the dreadful Dane Cook voices the main plane, but it's hard to explain what the plot even is or why we're supposed to care about anything in this ridiculous (and painfully dumb) "Cars world," only with even less personality.

Basically, the protagonist has "the dream of" something, and we watch... the boring, bland, mediocre, and above all painfully predictable ordeals he goes through to achieve it (and to be heroic and perfect in every way), in a flood of clichés with no charm, no humor, no spark, no coherence, no intelligence... nothing of value. Some generous souls will point out the visuals, but in my opinion, they don't deserve our generosity.

The action is phenomenal, and the chase sequences are amazing. On top of that, watching Statham and Johnson go back and forth with their banter has some great moments, and both completely nail their roles as "action heroes." Vanessa Kirby rounds out the hero trio, and Idris Elba plays the villain, both of them easily handling simple roles that fit their talent.

That said, every second that isn't focused on the above is just obligatory filler at its most basic, with the necessary exposition to pretend this is a story and not just a string of John Wick-style action set pieces.

What would normally be just a solid action movie, in my opinion, becomes something slightly better thanks to the visual spectacle and the strong performances from the key players, though even that isn't enough to turn it into a genuinely great film.

Honestly, I enjoyed the scenes with the crew "insulting" each other while sneaking in exposition more than I probably should have, and I think that's mostly thanks to the trio of Kurt Russell, Dwayne Johnson, and Jason Statham. The movie completely stops taking itself seriously, and that made the whole secret agent and espionage angle, plus the action, really fun for me.

But when the so-called "heart of the movie," Toretto (Vin Diesel), takes center stage, everything becomes unbearable. The script gives him scenes that demand actual acting when all he can do is mumble lines, and the old aura he had is completely gone.

So for me, the movie feels split into two halves. One is good (for what it's going for), and the other is a disaster-a superhero flick in car disguise, with a lead actor who ruins what could have been the best entry in the saga, at least for me.