 Universal Pictures 
 
 One of the pillars of the Fast and the Furious universe’s lore—and if you have not been keeping up with the franchise, you might be surprised at how much lore it’s accumulated—is the existence of “NOS,” short for nitrous oxide, which Vin Diesel’s Dominic Toretto and his ever-expanding crew use to give themselves an extra boost of speed just when they need it most.  3 out of 4 stars Title The Fate of the Furious Written by Chris Morgan Directed by F. Gary Gray Starring Vin Diesel, Dwayne Johnson, Charlize Theron, Jason Statham Genre Action Classification PG Country USA Language English Year 2017 
 
 Everything you need to know about the current state of the Fast and Furious franchise, Hollywood's most improbable success story, can be gleaned from the title of its eighth film: The Fate of the Furious. But it also serves as a kind of subliminal reassurance to fans unsettled by the loss of Fast/Furious mainstay Paul Walker, who was killed in a car crash midway through the filming of Furious 7, that Walker’s death won’t cut the series off from its roots. That reassurance lasts about five minutes, until Charlize Theron’s evil hacker Cipher crashes Dom’s Cuban honeymoon and blackmails him into turning against his comrades, a team that includes his wife Letty (Michelle Rodriguez), longtime running buddies Roman (Tyrese Gibson) and Tej (Chris “Ludacris” Bridges), and newish additions Ramsey (Nathalie Emmanuel) and Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson). Fate pares back the sprawling cast of its predecessors somewhat, but it also adds Scott Eastwood as a rule-following adjunct to Kurt Russell’s black-ops taskmaster and contrives to have Jason Statham’s Deckard, the previous movie’s main antagonist, jump the fence and start working with, if not for, the good guys.
– Once, there was a "family" of car enthusiasts working out of a dirty garage. Now, that family must stop an evil hacker who's enlisted one of their own in a plot for world domination. Oh, how things change. Here's what critics are saying about The Fate of the Furious, the eighth installment in the Fast and Furious franchise and certainly not the last: "If the fate of the Furious series is to grow somehow both wearier and dumber with age, then the eighth film is proof of a mission firmly accomplished," writes Barry Hertz at the Globe and Mail. Why, then, has he given the film three stars out of four? Because despite its unbelievability, it's "genuinely thrilling" with "more everything and anything. It's stupid, but it's the sort of stupid that comes bearing gifts," he says. Yes, the series is known for its ridiculous action scenes. But Sam Adams has had about enough. "It feels like the movies have gotten as big as they can get, and the gleeful absurdity that drove them is losing ground to the specter of obligation," he writes at Slate. The scenes featuring Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham, however, "are some of Fate's best." Stephanie Merry agrees "putting Statham and Johnson together is a particularly ingenious move" and "their constant bickering is among the movie's main pleasures." But the "clunky dialogue and absurd plot twists" suggest the franchise "peaked three movies ago," she writes at the Washington Post. At least the action "doesn't disappoint," which is all fans are likely to care about. If you're willing to throw logic out the window, you're in for "a wildly entertaining thrill ride that never lets its foot off the gas," despite a running time of over two hours, writes Adam Graham at Detroit News. He particularly applauds the "unquestionable levels of silliness" and notes director F. Gary Gray "has a great sense of rhythm and keeps things rolling."