Paul Walker in Furious 7
Universal Pictures
AUSTIN — Before Furious 7 played to a packed and raucous theater at a last-minute sneak preview screening at the SXSW Film Festival on Sunday night, producer Neal Moritz worked the crowd into a frenzy by explaining that he'd only thought about bringing the movie to the festival the previous morning, an impossible idea that Universal Pictures and the festival programmers somehow made happen in just over 24 hours.
The audience erupted in loud and boisterous cheering. And then, on a dime, Moritz brought up the film's late star, Paul Walker. Just as quickly, the audience fell silent.
"We obviously lost a dear friend, brother, comrade while we were making this movie," Moritz said. "He was the best guy I met in my world, in my life. We were determined to honor his legacy and our love for him. … I know Paul Walker would be smiling down on all of us."
After Moritz asked everyone not to reveal the ultimate fate of Walker's character, Brian O'Connor, many in the crowd applauded soberly in agreement.
The moment embodied the impossible circumstance in which Walker's death has placed the filmmakers and Universal Pictures. Walker died in a car accident on Nov. 30, 2013, while sitting in the passenger seat of a red Porsche GT driven by business partner Roger Rodas, while production on the film was roughly halfway complete. The movie subsequently went on hiatus, as Moritz, director James Wan (his first time working on the franchise), screenwriter Chris Morgan, and the rest of the filmmaking team reshaped the movie to fit the footage they'd already shot with Walker, and decided to fill in the rest of the sequences that needed to involve Brian by digitally placing Walker's face on the bodies of his brothers Caleb and Cody.
It is undeniable that some people will buy a ticket to this movie to satisfy their curiosity about how well the filmmakers pulled this off — and how they chose to conclude Brian's story. But the Fast & Furious movies are both earnest celebrations of loyalty and family, and rousingly absurd action spectaculars in which the elaborate driving stunts operate well outside the laws of physics, logic, and good sense. How can the film pay homage to Walker in film's familial spirit and not seem ghoulishly exploitative while maintaining the deeply unserious fun and not seem obnoxiously crass?
At the risk of spoilers, the answer is about as well as could be expected. (A few more light SPOILERS do follow.) It isn't difficult to note every sequence in which the camera seems to hang further back from Walker than normal, or when his face is shown from behind, or in shadow. But Wan shoots these moments with a deft touch that zips by faster than the audience has time to dwell on them. A few dialogue scenes involving Brian evoke Walker's death, sometimes clearly by serendipity, sometimes in ways that feel more eerie — like one in which Brian has a tense conversation with his wife Mia (Jordana Brewster) about whether he may survive the mission he's about to go on. (In fairness, Brian basically has this conversation with Mia in every Fast & Furious movie.)
Universal Pictures
The one sequence that may give audiences the most pause comes during the movie's crown jewel action sequence in which Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) drives a $3.4 million super-car through two skyscrapers in Abu Dhabi. The sequence was showcased in the Super Bowl commercial for Furious 7 , but it turns out that Brian is sitting in the passenger seat of that red sports car as it crashes through buildings at very high speeds. Brian's place in the car makes sense for the plot, and certainly no one involved with the film meant for it to be anything more than an eye-popping action sequence. But it still shares a few unnerving details with the accident that caused Walker's death. That is perhaps unavoidable, given how closely those details also evoked the Fast & Furious movies.
Then again, by the end of the SXSW screening, the audience was obviously moved by the graceful manner with which the filmmakers chose to honor to Walker and his role in the franchise. And fans will likely also be happy that the movie leaves open the possibility for another sequel.
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