Sometimes parting company with a friend is as simple as reaching a fork in the road. When Paul Walker, one of the rapidly growing roster of stars of the Fast & Furious franchise, died in a high-speed road accident just over a year ago, the widespread shock at the news of his death was followed by a realisation that the next film would somehow have to address it.
In the 14 years since the series’ modest beginnings, its joyriding heroes have been all but bulletproof. To date, two lead characters have "died" on screen only to reappear in later instalments. But Walker’s death changed that: it came loaded with an acknowledgement that these ferocious, fast-living young stars were mortal too.
Walker died part-way through the making of Fast & Furious 7; the film was completed with help from his two younger brothers, Caleb and Cody, and some subtle, unobtrusive computer graphics. Ghouls hoping to spot the joins will be disappointed. Only in a martial-arts brawl in a warehouse in the film’s final, Los Angeles-set act, are the use of a body double and tactical shadows conspicuous, and there are at least five more pressing reasons than those that the scene is hard to follow. But as a commemoration of his talent – the peculiar one, vital to Hollywood’s survival, of being able to shine like a brilliant-cut gemstone the moment you climb behind a steering wheel – the film does him justice.