SPOILER TALK: The Fate of the Furious

Spoiler Alert, people...this is to share some of the surprises which made me love the film a bit more than I would have...

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Let's start with the (rather quite literally) smallest surprise....

Dom's Baby

               I suppose this should have been a very nice little surprise. But in the context of the film...not so much. In fact, we find out that this is the reason why Dom turned against his own crew - because Cipher had held Elena & his son captive. Sure, one of the talking points from here is the fact that Elena mothered his child (and not Letty), but of course, it makes sense given their time together in Spain at the beginning of Furious 6. And to no surprise, Dom names his son Brian, because why would it be anything else, right?

Elena Neves

              But what happened to the mother is rather quite tragic. Unfortunately, due to Dom's failure in his mission in NY, Cipher decided to teach him a lesson and had Elena killed. In truth, it was not a very big surprise...but it was very sad indeed. Elena is easily the kindest, sweetest, most innocent character in the whole franchise. She's the one who has no shady background or history, and she was just a pure cop doing her duty. It is truly sad to see this kind of character go away.

The Shaw Family

               Now, we come to my favourite surprise of the whole movie. First off, Helen Mirren as Mama Shaw...how cool is that?? Unfortunately, this is not a surprise for me due to my extensive research of the film beforehand. But I'm sure for some people this is a pleasant surprise, especially as her name is not even announced in the opening credits.
               Then, there is also the small matter of Deckard's apparent death in NY, but that "revival" was so telegraphed. It was too quick, the shot was far away, there is not enough emphasis - all this meant that we're not done yet with Deckard.

                But my favourite surprise of them all: the return of Owen Shaw (Luke Evans). He is easily the best villain this series has ever produced, and I still personally consider him as my favourite character in the whole franchise. Owen Shaw in his prime (Furious 6) is just awesome.
                 I had previously hoped for a potential return by Owen Shaw - with the first spark of hope in the beginning of Furious 7 where you see him lying at the hospital (not dead, at least). Then, the question becomes when you might see him return or if the filmmakers decided that it works for the story. Add to that the fact that I have no semblance of a clue whatsoever that Luke Evans is involved in the film - it totally makes it a surprise reveal for me. And if you bring back my favourite character of the whole franchise in a cool action scene like that...it surely feels like Christmas (though it is Easter, in fact).
                Now, the question changes to: Will they re-appear in future films? Of course there is that small matter of Cipher still out loose, and Deckard & Owen may want to settle matters once and for all. To be perfectly honest, I don't see it happening anytime soon, but you never know. Shaw Brothers FTW!!