Starring Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Dwayne Johnson, Jason Statham, Charlize Theron, Ludacris, Tyrese Gibson, Scott Eastwood, Nathalie Emmanuel, Kurt Russell, Helen Mirren, Kristofer Hivju and Elsa Pataky

Directed by F. Gary Grey

Out now

Finally united with Letty, who finally has her memory back, Dom goes on honeymoon to Cuba. But. In between fostering links in the community and winning an insanely dangerous street race (duh), he’s recruited by Cipher (Theron). Cipher is a cyberterrorist and she needs Dom to get her latest project completed.

And Dom agrees.

Betraying his team in the field, going rogue and causing chaos the world over, Dominic Toretto becomes the exact kind of man he used to chase. And to bring him in, his family are going to need some help…

The Fast and Furious series are the best western action movies being made right now that don’t feature Keanu Reeves. Where the John Wick series is defined by its fascinating, complex world and brutal, well dressed Judo fight sequences, the Fast movies are all about cars. Cars as vehicles, cars as an extension of personality, cars as an extension of personality. Cars as weapon. Cars as tool. Cars as community.

You only need to look at the astounding closing sequence here to see that. Cutting between two fight sequences and a hacker showdown, it shifts gear to on-ice vehicular warfare that finishes with someone getting punched in the truck by a surfacing submarine.

Any other movie would save up for this moment. By this point Furious 8 has also thrown a rampage of zombie auto driving cars, a brutal harpoon gun automotive wrestling match, a prison riot and the single best action sequence Jason Statham has been part of since The Transporter at you.

These movies should be absolutely standard bloated Hollywood action. Instead they’re a giddy combination of near superheroics (the prison riot involves Johnson beating up an almost mathematically impossible amount of people) and absolute sincerity. After seven movies of Dom talking about his chosen family, seeing him abandon them is surprisingly gut-wrenching. The fact that emotional turmoil is used to catapult Statham across to the good guys’ side is just the oil based icing on the turbo charged cake.

Because it’s family that sits at the heart of this movie more than any other, except perhaps, Furious 7. That involved an extended goodbye to both the late, great Paul Walker and his character Brian. Here Brian casts a long shadow but it’s a different element of the family that’s front and centre. It’s an interesting twist, indicative not only of the series’ ridiculously tidy plotting but also of its refusal to bow to usual tropes. There is an element here that will justifiably upset a lot of people who are tired of seeing certain types of character fridged. The movie owns that though, and makes you, and Dom, painfully aware of why the situation is like it is. It still leaves a bad taste in the mouth but it is at least supposed to.

It’s also worth noting that this is probably the most even handed movie to date. Just as the cast has expanded and the focus changed, the F&F series have got very good at giving everyone stuff to do. This time out Johnson and Statham relish in their extra screen time as does the always excellent Rodriguez who takes her place as the head of the family. If Diesel ever chooses to leave these movies before the end of the run, Rodriguez and Johnson could absolutely carry them.

Further down the cast Emmanuel doesn’t get a tremendous amount to do as new girl Ramsey but is definitely slowly rising up the ranks. Ludacris and Tyrese are as fun as ever as the perma-bickering Tej and Roman and the newcomers impress too. Scott Eastwood cleverly trades on his ‘preppy asshole’ persona as Mr Nobody’s new aide and he and Johnson spar wonderfully. Hivju is also fun as Cipher’s henchman but its Theron who has the most fun. Dreadlocks, heavy metal T-shirts and a bad attitude mark her out as a smart, ruthless, irredeemable villain in a way the series hasn’t had for a while. She may very well be back. When she is, things will escalate even further we have no doubt.  But best of all, by a mile, is Mirren. We won’t tell you about her scene because it’s an absolute joy but do watch for it, it’s tremendous fun.

This series is sixteen years old and has come a very long way from its scrappy street racing start. There are a few wobbles but we strongly suspect they’re features not bugs. After all, while Shaw did try to kill Han we never saw the body back In Furious 7/Tokyo Drift…

Verdict: Massive in scope, colossal in action and yet weirdly small scale and sincere when it counts, Furious 8 is an absolute joy. The best action movie you’ll see this year. 10/10

Alasdair Stuart