That extra time director James Wan and the makers of Furious 7 took was worth it. And not just because the story, written by Chris Morgan and Gary Scott Thompson, took the cars and the people who’ve piloted them through this successful franchise to the most adrenaline-pumping places a movie-goer could cheer.
Although there was plenty of genuine crowd gusto for a Saturday matinee performance as Vin Diesel, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Paul Walker, Michelle Rodriguez, Chris “Ludacris” Bridges and Tyrese Gibson did what they’ve done so well since the first installment in 2001: Have their characters plot some, mix some, plot some more, and drive as much as possible.
The dilemma for 7 has been known since Walker died in a non-work related car crash while the movie was being filmed in November 2013. That forced everybody involved to work through the grief and sadness of loss as well as the physical and technical aspects of Walker’s removal for the conclusion of the process. So they reworked some scenes, and his brothers both became involved in the remaining filming, too.
Success.
