Mileage starts catching up to bThe Fate of the Furiousb

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Over the past decade filmshttp://www.clatl.com/culture/movies-tv/article/13073786/fast-and-furious-now-for-the-sixth-time” rel=”external”>The Fast and the Furiousfilmshttp://www.clatl.com/culture/movies-tv/article/13073786/fast-and-furious-now-for-the-sixth-time” rel=”external”> films have been giving bmindless entertainmentb a good name. With 2011bs Fast Five, the films shifted into high gear from pulpy tales of underground street racing to gloriously silly, globe-trotting caper flicks. Few movie franchises can be so dumb and still deliver the goods; the Fast films leave Michael Bay eating their dust.

The series hit its high-water marks with its fifth and sixth chapters, but since director Justin Lin left the series, itbs lacked a steady hand at the wheel. James Wanbs Furious 7 grappled with the off-screen death of long-time co-star Paul Walker but still provided the biggest hit to date. For The Fate of the Furious, director F. Gary Gray tries to recapture the filmbs anything-goes bravado but has trouble ramping up a franchise thatbs already gone over the top.

At this point, the Fast films are like James Bond for bros, spinning male fantasies of cars, women, guns and adventure, only less frou-frou b with muscle tees and Corona instead of tuxedos and vodka martinis. And like a lot of Bond films, Fatebs first set-piece is arguably the best part of the movie, with newlywed Dom Torreto and Letty Ortiz (Vin Diesel and Michelle Rodriguez) honeymooning in beautifully shot Havana.

Retired car thief Dom inevitably gets dragged into another street race, but Fate (or bF8b) flips the script, with Dom competing in an old beater he has to strip down, soup up and steer toward the finish line while itbs literally burning up around him.

If only the filmmakers applied the same stripped-down ethos to F8, which proves downbeat and convoluted even by the seriesb standards. Dom finds himself blackmailed by Cipher (Charlize Theron), an international hacker and criminal mastermind with a grudge. On orders from Cipher, Dom commits evil heists and turns against his old teammates. As Luke Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) declares, bIbve seen that look before. Dominic Torreto has gone rogue.b

The Fast films have always embraced clichC)d dialogue and melodramatic twists with abandon. (Remember when Letty was killed off, then came back a couple of chapters later with amnesia?) F8bs unlikely revelations drive Dom to the dark side but make the film atypically gloomy. Plus, Dieselbs blunt-instrument approach to his performance weighs the film down: Dom silently anguished doesnbt look that different from Dom quietly content.

When the team literally catches Dombs car with harpoons, the memorable image provides a neat little metaphor: Dombs relationships hold him in place despite his attempts to punch the accelerator and escape. Cipher tries to convince him that he loves the freedom of racing more than his personal connections, which seem a hard sell, given that Dom can barely speak a sentence without the word bfamilyb in it.

No members of the returning ensemble b including Tyrese Gibson, Chris Bridges and Nathalie Emmanuel b seem to be enjoying themselves, with Scott Eastwood barely registering as Paul Walkerbs de factor replacement. But Jason Statham pops as Deckard Shaw, the murderous adversary of Furious 7 now reluctantly joining the heroes to take down Cipher. The rolebs redemption as a good guy is hard to swallow, but Statham seems to be having a blast, whether lobbing insults at Johnson or protecting a baby during a shoot-out.

Cipherbs elaborate scheme involves surveillance satellites, electromagnetic pulses and nuclear launch codes b plot points that could probably fill out your spy movie bingo card. Theybre really just table-setting for outlandish CGI-sweetened stuntwork, and F8 tries to match the previous filmsb crazy inventiveness. Notable props include a wrecking ball demolishing pursuers on a German street and a nuclear submarine chasing the heroes across a frozen bay. Perhaps the most memorable sequence has Cipher hijacking dozens of cars and having them rain down on the New York streets from elevated parking garage.

Not for want of trying, The Fate of the Furious finds the franchise showing diminishing returns. Whether running on high-octane gas, nitrous oxide or testosterone, there may not be much fuel left in the tank.

The Fate of the Furious. 2 stars. Directed by F. Gary Gray. Stars Vin Diesel, Charlize Theron. Rated PG-13. Opens April 14. At area theaters.

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