Paul Walker goes for one final ride.
You’re watching Beyond The Trailer’s review of Furious 7...
On November 30th 2013, Paul Walker died suddenly and tragically - doing what he loved. No,
he wasn’t making a movie but instead was with a good friend, testing his limits, coming
from a charity event he’d organized. Now while Walker was indeed a thrillseeker on
and off set, and at the very least died on a day when he was doing many of things he
loved, the timing couldn’t have been worse for Universal Pictures. In the middle of principle
photography for the seventh entry in one of the studio’s biggest franchises, they’d
suddenly lost one of their lead actors - in a car accident that eerily echoed that franchise.
While contemplating their next move, Universal delayed Furious 7 for an entire year - and
began the difficult and complex task of delivering a movie shadowed by tragedy. This has happened
before, perhaps most notably when Heath Ledger accidentally overdosed on prescription drugs
in 2008. However, Ledger had already completed filming The Dark Knight, and his death in
some ways only added to the dark mystery of his fictional character, The Joker. Walker,
on the other hand, practically IS Brian O’Conner, from the way he lived his life to his relationship
with his co-stars. On the production side, Universal used what footage they did have
of Walker and created a digital mask of the actor, which they were then able to superimpose
over his two brothers’ faces who agreed to act as his stand-ins - similar to how Black
Widow was able to participate in multiple action scenes for Avengers 2 despite Scarlett
Johansson being pregnant. On the personal side, it seems the Furious 7 cast is a family
on AND off-camera. Vin Diesel’s tributes to his longtime co-star - since 2001! - have
been touching, but perhaps none more than when he recently named his newborn daughter
Pauline after Walker. And while Universal has said the character of Brian O’Conner
will retire instead of perish in the film, recently Tyrese Gibson has promised Furious
7 will end on an emotional note. Yes, director James Wan - transitioning from low-budget
horror to big budget action - got more than he bargained for when he initially signed
on, and he now has multiple boxes to check off in-order to deliver a successful entry
here. Plus with all this talk of Walker, it’s easy to forget that heavyweight Jason Statham
is joining the cast, as well as Ronda Rousey, Kurt Russell and Thai action star Tony Jaa.
By the way, while Furious Four through Six were prequels to the third entry, Tokyo Drift,
we’re finally all caught up in the timeline. Yes, Furious 7 has a lot to accomplish in
a little over two hours. Can this crew succeed in yet another difficult task? Let’s hope
they can - for Walker...