Furious 7 (2015) - A Fairy Tale with Flying Cars
Once upon a time, after years in exile and having many adventures, the good King Dominic returned home. His right hand, Sir Brian the Worthy, married King Dominic’s sister, the beautiful Princess Mia, and they lived together in Castle 1327, and in peace and prosperity. But they were unhappy. An evil magic had stolen the memories of King Dominic’s true love, Lady Letty, and she knew him no more. Sir Brian, though having proven himself time and again, longed for the thrill of battle, though he stifled it as best he could.
When a rogue knight, Deckard the Black, threatens King Dominic’s lands and people, and even destroys 1327, he rallies the Knights of the Picnic Table. In their quest to find Deckard they encounter an old wizard who provides them mighty steeds, and rescue a comely witch who possesses a magic eye which allows her to see anywhere in the world. King Dominic and Sir Brian even unleash a flying beast and ride it through the desert, though it nearly costs them their lives.
You get the idea.
While Fast 5 took the series in a new direction, diverting it from street racing culture and into the world of heists, and Fast & Furious 6 hinted at soap operatics and superheroics, there was still some pretense that the stories take place in the real world. Perhaps something more akin to Tolkien’s idea that Middle Earth is our world in prehistory, but no further removed than that. From the very first movie in 2001 we’d observed elements of honor, chivalry, devotion, and ritual, which are all very real things and should be celebrated in every genre.
Furious 7, has them too. But it’s a straight up fairy tale.
The purpose of these essays has never been to defend The Fast and the Furious movies. You either love them or hate them, and I doubt I’m going to change your mind. Given their tremendous success, many people (myself included) do enjoy them, and all I’m doing here is trying to break down why. So far I’ve spend a lot of time talking about the ancient themes that stir our souls, particularly the hearts of men. Those themes are not as prominent this time around, and really there’s not much more to be said about them anyway. We need to look at something else.
Death. It hangs heavy over the seventh installment.
“Promise me something, Brian,” Roman says as they stand at Han’s grave. “I don’t wanna go to any more funerals.” Originally the story was supposed to be about the team defending themselves from Owen Shaw’s brother, Deckard, and taking revenge for Deckard killing Han. And technically it still is. However, since Paul Walker was killed near the end of the film’s production it’s also a tribute to the actor.
In times of loss it’s normal to seek comfort and escape. When my dad passed away, I went to Grandma’s house and immersed myself in old photos. Digging into the past gave me the reassurance I needed to navigate the present and face the future. Furious 7 even ends with a montage of clips from the history of series, showcasing the Brian O’Connor character, but really celebrating Walker.
Ironically, the night of Paul Walker’s death was one of the last evenings I spent with my dad, and the two losses are weirdly intertwined in my thoughts.
What does any of that have to do with Furious 7 being a fairy tale? Most of us grew up on them, or at least Disney’s adaptations. We know the rhythms and beats. We need the rhythms and beats. We understand that though there is danger and horrific loss, good triumphs over evil and even death itself. The thing that holds us together, keeps us going, and restores us, is the greatest thing in the world. And it’s something the series hasn’t touched on until now.
True love.
Every action movie has a moment of death and resurrection. So naturally, after his fight with Shaw, which is shot to look like some sort of epic tableau, Dom lays dead on the ground. His heart has stopped, and Brian is unable to resuscitate him. In that moment, when all is lost, the thing that revives him is Letty’s voice telling him that she remembers everything.
“Why didn’t you tell me we were married?” she asks.
“You can’t tell someone they love you,” Dom answers.
There it is. The moment she realizes she loves him, he comes back from the dead and order is restored to the world. He might not be any sort of Sleeping Beauty, but the principle remains the same. True love.