I have been following the popular Fast and Furious series for a very long time and in my opinion the latest installment was one of the best I’ve seen. I felt the movie was very intense with a complex but heartwarming plot line.

The idea of “Family” has always been the most prevalent storyline throughout the “Fast and Furious” series (and then crime, suspense and romance of course.) and this film followed the same dynamic. I liked that it seemed to follow Dom for a change. Dom was a character who has always been portrayed as extremely intimidating and sometimes larger than life. Dom has always been the leader and, as a result, the glue holding everything and everyone together.

As shown in the trailers, this film decided to remove the glue and take Dom out of his usual role, a very interesting idea. What happens when you remove the person or thing holding everyone or everything together? Does a family adapt? Do things fall apart while everyone goes their separate ways? Every family is different, no person reacts the same way as another. I think the best answer is that it all depends on how close the family is to begin with.

Family ties were something very important in this film and I loved how deep the producers delved into them. These characters are obviously fiction but after eight films, the trials and tribulations they endure affect us as we watch and we feel as the characters do. We know them, they are familiar. While “Fate of the Furious” did all that for me, I got a very deep understanding of Dom and some of his deepest fears and it showed how truly vital he is to his crew (and how vulnerable someone can be in certain circumstances).

Outside of family ties, this film was also about fantastic car stunts and action. Some of car stuntswere absolutely crazy and unrealistic but that’s some of the fun of watching a "Fast and Furious” movie. A particular scene that sticks out for me is the beginning when Dom races his cousin’s car. I won’t go in depth about the race for fear of spoilers but some of the things that car went through were unbelievable and it did things that the Mythbusters would have fun trying to prove could actually happen. It was pretty awesome though.

Special effects are something I am extremely impressed by. The things we can do and create with computers today is amazing and it shows in the movies that are released today. Watching the behind the scenes of a movie is actually hilarious because it’s more often than not a prop, the actors and a green screen. Everything we see gets added in later but it looks unbelievable, just like the car stunts in the "Fast and Furious" films. I will say, that Fast Seven probably had a lot more stunts but the ones eight had, while few, were amazing nonetheless. I enjoyed every minute of them.

I can honestly say there was not a dull moment in “Fate of the Furious,” I was on the edge of my seat the whole time and there were plenty of shocking moments as I watched. A couple of them had the entire theater reacting! I was extremely sad when it was over but it seemed like a perfect possible ending to the action-packed, fast-paced series.

I will say it was sad watching a movie in this series without Paul Walker (may he rest in peace) but I felt his role in the last one was a fitting finale for his character’s arch in the story. If I were to rate this film, I’d give it a five stars and tell you to bring some friends— and then do it again a second time. It was one of my favorites!