For a franchise whose sole purpose of being hinges on the age old mantra ‘go big or go home’, Fast and Furious 8 sure does follow the rulebook. But sadly, the fatigue is setting in. A couple of films ago – even three films ago – you’d never have believed it. The series had just witnessed a comeback unlike any other. In that moment, to quote a teen novel of all things, we were all infinite. Dom was in love. The Rock was breaking concrete by stomping on it real hard. Tyrese was yelling. Women were being objectified…

In The Fate of the Furious, our heroes walk away from crashes that would put Captain America on the disabled list.

On top of the clunky dialogue and absurd plot twists, such moments suggest that the franchise – which already has two more installments planned – peaked three movies ago, with 2011’s Fast Five. Even so, Fate gives fans of the franchise exactly what they want, provided they can ditch logic as easily as the movie does.

Furious 8 fails to be the best in the franchise. With its predictable screenplay, the only thing that works here is Charlize Theron’s sex appeal.

Fans will probably find Fast and Furious 8 mostly satisfying. Non-fans will most likely not find the film as offensive to the senses as they would expect. After all, there are few cinematic moments as oddly eloquent as seeing a WWE pro-wrestler pick up Clint Eastwood’s son like he is an action figure and shake him around.

The narrative in fact feels lazy and stilted. Charlize Theron tries her best to look like and act like a venomous seductress black widow but fails . Kurt Russell is wasted here, Scott Eastwood plays officious like a joker while Helen Mirren just about manages to light up a few distinctive moments with her august presence. The script is fatally flawed and the direction seems out of sorts. Frankly there’s not much to hold on to here.