Film Review: Furious 7

The seven things you want and need to know about Furious 7 before you go see it.

Vin Diesel and Jason Statham crash a lot of cars in Furious 7
Vin Diesel and Jason Statham crash a lot of cars in Furious 7

Sometimes you’ll hear people talk about a movie as being review-proof. This is one of those times. There’s nothing anyone could do or say to keep you away from Furious 7 if it’s something you already want to see. And if you don’t care, there’s nothing I could say to make you care. So what’s the point? I could tell you it’s a rollicking good time for most of its length, and then it devolves into some pretty dumb stuff, too dumb even for itself. It’s basically a bunch of video game levels with some unskippable cut scenes that you wish you could skip.

Continue reading “Film Review: Furious 7”

Film Review: Brick Mansions

Neither Walker’s smile nor Belle’s crazy stunts can save ‘Brick Mansions’ from collapsing in on itself.

Paul Walker (RIP) is a bright spot in his disappointing second-to-last outing.
Paul Walker (RIP) is a bright spot in his disappointing second-to-last outing.

We should get this out of the way: Brick Mansions is not Paul Walker’s final film.  The charismatic 40 year old actor, who died in a car crash on November 30th, 2013, completed a portion of the filming of Fast & Furious 7.  The seventh installment of the lucrative franchise will serve as a much better sendoff than Brick Mansions.  Brick Mansions has its moments, and Paul Walker supplies his trademark icy blue eyes and sly humor, but the film suffers from a shallow plot, laughable dialogue, and dizzying quick cuts that spoil some marvelous stunt work.

Continue reading “Film Review: Brick Mansions”