All Fast and Furious Characters and the distinctive likeness(es) are Trademarks & Copyright of Universal Studios
  All Rights Reserved.

The Fast and Furious franchise at the time of me writing this as spanned 8 film's with two more in the pipeline and at least one spin-off in the form of Hobbs and Shaw.

I’m a big fan of the franchise and for me, it started many years ago in 2001 I was a big fan of modified cars back then and dreamed of cruising the streets much like in the Fast and the Furious with a modified car and street racing, though a lot of that was put to rest as I wasn’t too reckless and insurance was very expensive. I got my fix through the Need for Speed Underground games though.

Whilst the main franchise continues to keep things around the ‘Toretto family’ the spin-off Hobbs and Shaw takes things in a different direction by taking two characters who were both introduced as bad guys in previous films with Hobbs being the main antagonist to Brian and Dom in Fast Five and Deckard Shaw being the main villain who was out for revenge in Fast and Furious 7 who took out fan favourite Han (because he was a fan favourite Fast 4, 5, 6 and part of 7 were all set before Tokyo Drift which was the 3rd film produced but sits somewhere in between 6 and 7).

Both these characters were fan favourites since Hobbs turned up at least 4 times in the main series and Shaw 2 times. And they turned from villains into anti-Heros.
The Fate of the Furious (Fast and Furious 8) had established that both Dwayne Johnson and Jason Stratham had good chemistry so giving them their own buddy cop style film was a no-brainer.

The film picks up an unspecified time after Fate of the Furious and initially follows Hobbs and Shaw doing their respective things ie: kicking ass in their own little way before keeping true to the Fast and the Furious theme of family with us seeing Hobbs and his daughter and Shaw and his mum and also establishing that they are both in some ways estrange from family before both being recruited by the CIA to do a mission.

The main plot begins establishing key characters such as a woman who is responsible for securing the virus, an unstoppable villain with enhanced strengths and abilities and lots of action, comedy, and fast cars. The key thing aspect of family is strongly touched on through this film and the ending is especially touching and despite the hatred for each other Hobbs and Shaw do learn to tolerate each other which makes for some good action and laughs later on.

There are some cameos from Hollywood actors playing agents of sorts and can be especially funny and you hope for them to make an appearance in the sequel.

If you’re looking for some mindless fun that you can turn your brain off too it well worth watching and if you’re a fan of the franchise, definitely go watch this to see what happens to some well-loved characters and for a different take on ‘Family’ and Fast cars.

On Tuesday I went out for one last time with a old friend and we watched Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2 which was a superb film. Though a little late to the table here is my 'average guy review' of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2 Production Concept Art
All Marvel Characters and the distinctive likeness(es) thereof are Trademarks & Copyright 2016
Marvel Characters Inc & Marvel Studios. All Rights Reserved.

Vol.2 is obviously the sequel to the underrated 2014 Guardians of the Galaxy which was a surprise hit back then. Things have certainly changed for the sequel with a larger team including  Yondu, Nebula and Mantis joining the ranks and Kurt Russell plays an excellent villain in the form of Ego.

The music is excellent as always with a mix of 70’s and 80’s music which was well utilised though I felt it wasn't as well done as the first film. Im curious how they will handle the 3rd film and potentially the appearances in Avengers Infinity Wars 1 & 2.

I enjoyed this film mainly due to the film be more expansive and expanding on the Guardians Universe and actually establishing the characters more and developing them further. Especially Yondu character who also generated the most redeeming aspects of the story, and touched me a little due to personal reasons and also generated a lot of laughs with me with the whole Mary Poppins thing (you’ll have to watch to know the reference).

I quiet enjoyed Baby Groot who of course being a child generated a lot of child like humour and especially funny in the beginning of the film during the opening credit sequence. I actually would have liked to see the sequence from the others perspectives.

Rocket also had a great arc and I felt for him towards the end likewise Peter and Gamora handling family issues. Really it felt like this whole film was all about Family.

The special effects and values were amazing, with everything seeming so real especially the planet elements when some of the Guardians visit Ego’s home.

It does take a whilst for the story to unfold as it felt a little flat in the middle but then again this is all character development and it really pays off in the end.

What I liked about the film was it was also willing to poke fun at a lot of things that are in our culture but also at itself, its like this film was self aware and will to use the humour in a stupid way whilst also giving us a implied wink.

Other things that stood out for me was the blink or you will miss it cameo from David Hasselhoff and also a very interesting appearance of Stan Lee, which for geeky fans makes you wonder and generates more questions than answers.

Its not a super hero film as such, I saw it more of a sci-fi film and I felt with it sat somewhere between an action film like Star Wars or Star Trek with elements of Deadpool who also has that self-awareness though on a 4^th wall breaking scale unlike Guardians. I would definitely recommend it to both types of fans and also Marvel or super hero fans.

I also mentioned the overall theme being family. I thought it was interesting, what started as a story about family defined by blood eventually developed into the family that you would spill blood for without sharing any.

This was basically Friends that became like Family, ie: Friends that can feel like family through a sense of belonging, understanding, friendship and camaraderie. It also makes you realise how sometimes you take things for granted and when they are not there how things can be different and makes you learn to appreciate those things you take for granted.

Would I recommend the film? Wholeheartedly yes, it’s a excellent film and for me it was one of the last I watched with a friend I will miss so I would say it was a worthy one to go out on.

In terms of ratings I would give it a 5/5 thumbs up!