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7 Reasons Why Fate Of The Furious Is The Year’s Best Family Movie

I’ve never been a huge fan of the Fast and Furious franchise. It’s just not my thing.  But after seeing Fate of the Furious last night, I can hardly wait to watch it again..with my kids.  I know what you’re thinking– Vin Diesel, Jason Statham and Ludacris aren’t exactly ‘family friendly’ celebrities. Chasing  Russian nuclear codes isn’t exactly a storyline appropriate for the Pixar playbook, but that doesn’t mean this movie isn’t fun for the whole clan. Here are seven damn good reasons why:

Furious
photo: courtesy Universal Pictures

#1 It’s Educational:

In the opening scene, Vin Diesel quickly modifies his cousin’s car with Coke Can, which he calls Poor Man’s Turbo. File that under useless crap you didn’t think to teach your kids but could come in handy some day.

#2 It Celebrates Girl Power

Dwayne Johnson, aka The Rock, aka Luke Hobbs, plays a retired Fed-turned-girls-soccer-coach-hot-daddy extraordinaire.  Of course, because he’s still The Rock, he leads his team in a pre-game a Samoan War Dance, complete with tongue-wagging intimidation. It’s completely and utterly awesome. Can my girls get on the team?

Furious
photo: courtesy Universal Pictures

#3 It’s Multicultural

Between Vin Diesel (multi-racial), Michelle Rodriguez (Latino), Johnson (Black & Samoan), Ludacris & Tyrese Gibson (African American) the cast looks more like modern America than most Hollywood productions.  So your kids can actually find a role model that looks like them.

#4 It’s Hilarious

There are so many funny lines in this movie, and they come when you least expect them.  For example, when Dame Helen Mirren says “Devil’s Butthole Or Something” in a Cockney accent, you may just cough up your popcorn. Plus, kids love butthole jokes. Every good parent knows that.

#5 It’ll Put Your Baby Dady In Line

Can’t get your hubbie to pitch in to baby duty? Does he run at the site of a dirty diaper? I feel your pain. All of this can be fixed with one trip to F8. After he sees Jason Statham do an entire action sequence holding a baby in a car seat, he’ll realize that real men are real dads.  Statham kills roughly 20 dudes on an airplane all the while ensuring that an infant keeps his cool. After this film, your better half will realize that he’s probably tough enough to take the kids to Target.

Furious
photo: courtesy Universal Pictures

#6 It Makes You Pity Charlize Theron

Poor Charlize Theron..said nobody ever.  But she’s such a psycho-bitch in this movie that you kind of hate her, which feels much better than wanting to scratch her eyes out in envy.  The cherry on top? She barely drives at all in this kick ass car movie– ouch!  Sorry Cipher, go cry into your Academy Award.

#7  Family Values Have Never Been So Fast

The entire premise of the film is all about family: Vin’s character Dom is motivated throughout the film to save his baby, The Rock is all about reconnecting with his daughter, and Jason Statham is about saving his brother.

Sure, there’s plenty of reasons NOT to take your kids to Fate of the Furious– violence, scary stuff, swears.  But teaching them to love fast cars, tough women and their family is probably better than any take away they’ll get from Boss Baby. So do it. And let Mama know how it went down!

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