The Fate of the Furious: The Importance of Family and Forgiveness

While the “Fast and Furious” franchise is known for big budget cars and explosions, this action-packed film speaks to the importance of family and forgiveness. 

“I don’t have friends…I got family!” In the latest installment of “The Fast and the Furious” series, “The Fate of the Furious’” character, Dominic Torreto, acted by Vin Diesel, challenges the strength of the furious family through his betrayal, for the sake of saving an important family member.

Importance of Family 

Throughout each movie, we see amazing cars with great sounding engines, guns, great fight scenes, and a variety of different parties before a race. The movie is far more than the elements that are shown on the screen. The last two movies were less about the fast cars, half dressed women, and living a life in the constant fast lane and more about the importance of family. The cast has been able to give viewers an insight into their characters maturity throughout the series. To the characters, life is more about family and loyalty, than partying and racing cars.

The best aspect of the movie is the overarching theme of family. However, there are several sub-themes that deal with the dangers of technology in our advanced society. The second half of the movie included zombie-like cars attacking a foreign government official to steal nuclear weapons. Before the final fight, the character’s toy shop was shown filled with amazing and expensive sports cars. The only downfall was the audience’s inability to hear the infamous roaring of car engines before the fight.The baby rescue on the plane was another great moment in the movie; this scene encapsulated both the good and bad side of Deckard, acted by Jason Statham, as he quickly took out the enemies.

The major themes that the audience is left with are family, loyalty, and forgiveness. The furious family comes together at the beginning and the end, embodying what true family comradery looks like. The closing scene is a great picture of all the characters on the rooftop of a New York penthouse.  Before the scene cuts out the family joins hands in prayer for their food and their friendship, right after Dominic introduces the name of his son as Brian.  If we take away one thing from this movie, it is the importance of family.

Critique 

While there are great family themes throughout this movie, there was also a slight level of disappointment. The disappointment came from a combination of the deceased Paul Walker missing from action, the lack of amazing cars to hit the street, and the derogatory remark made by Hobbs in the prison fight with Deckard. Hobbs, played by Dwayne Johnson,  made an uneducated statement involving a Cherokee tradition.

The popular saying, “The most important thing in life will always be family,” was tested by the manipulative cyber hacker, Cipher who held Dominic’s baby son as hostage, so that he would follow her devious plan. We learn at this moment that Dominic fathered a baby with an Elena Neves when it was assumed that his wife, Letty had died after being shot. At the beginning of the movie, Letty looks at her husband Dominic and ponders the thought of him eventually becoming a father. Even after Dominic turned his back on family, his wife refused to believe the lies that were said about him. She had faith that the person that betrayed their family was not Dominic. Several times throughout the movie, Dominic attacked his family, but they were still intent on saving him from the manipulative actions of Cipher. When Dominic knew that his son was safe, he once again joined his family in the fight against Cipher. With a simple moment of forgiveness, his family accepts him back despite his betrayal, like God does in Micah 7:18-19 “Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever a but delight to show mercy. You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea.” Overall, “The Fate of The Furious” proved to have redemptive themes that make this moves a great watch.



 

Melissa Maddux is a staff writer for The Daily Runner.