Over the past few weeks, we have seen the marketing for Furious 7 ramp up, offering trailers and featurettes for for the latest film in the franchise. In case you haven’t heard, the first early screening of Furious 7 was held tonight was a not so secret screening at this year’s annual South by Southwest arts and music festival.
Earlier today, festival organizers tweeted some peculiar information.
Just added for all #SXSW badges: surprise screening of a huge film, 7 mins after midnight tonight @ Paramount. Gotta be FAST to get a seat.
— SXSW (@sxsw) March 15, 2015
Apparently, the screening was literally last minute, as festival organizers secured rights to show the film only last night. Now that Furious 7 has beed screened to festival audiences, many of those audience members have taken to twitter to voice their reactions to the film. Overall, most of the reactions seem to be overwhelmingly positive. Most audience members seem to praise not only James Wan’s direction, but the franchises’ ability to top itself with each subsequent installment. While some hinted that the film was “moving”, most likely to Paul Walker’s departure from the franchise after his untimely death a year and a half ago, there are not too many tweets detailing how the actor’s departure is actually handled in the film itself.
Here are some of the highlights and what people had to say about the film:
#Furious7 finally made me a believer. Not an drop of cynicism or physics in the entire film. Loved it top to bottom. Cars DO fly. #SXSW — Ed Travis (@Ed_Travis) March 16, 2015
Well fast and furious 7 was everything you can hope it would be and then some #sxsw #fastandfurios @KaylaSchuring — Kyle (@RedBaronGrizz) March 16, 2015
Randomly wandered into the premiere of Fast & Furious 7. Not amazing, but a fun film. #SXSW — Rob Kischuk (@rkischuk) March 16, 2015
Furious 7 was EPIC! Absolutely loved it. Do yourself a favour and see it. Thanks #SXSW for hosting it for us tonight before it’s out there. — Paul Canterbury (@paulcan) March 16, 2015
Furious 7 was everything that I wanted/ needed. Thanks SXSW and the Fast & Furious for bringing out the movie tonight. #sxsw #furious7 — J.O. Schulz (@joschulz314) March 16, 2015
FURIOUS 7 is a masterpiece. #SXSW #SXSWFilm — Adrian Charlie (@Adrian_Charlie) March 16, 2015
Just saw advance screening of #Furious7. Great film and artful, surprising handling of Walker’s exit from the series @FastFurious — Digital LA (@DigitalLA) March 16, 2015
FURIOUS 7 is so, so good at ensemble action. So many moving pieces all deftly managed. Sells the insane with ease, the emotion with grace.
— Peter S. Hall (@PeterSHall) March 16, 2015
FURIOUS 7 gets 7 furiouses up. Such over the top fun. Audience lost their damn minds for 2 hours straight. #SXSW #NerdistSXSW — Dan Casey (@osteoferocious) March 16, 2015
Furious 7: any attempt of realism has been completely abandoned. More outrageous stunts & dialogue than ever. Unfiltered fun! #ForPaul #SXSW
— Amirose Eisenbach (@Amirosie) March 16, 2015
I’ve seen a lot of dumb movies, and FURIOUS 7 is among the dumbest. That might be a compliment. I can’t even tell anymore. — Russ Fischer (@russfischer) March 16, 2015
World premiere of @creepypuppet‘s FURIOUS 7 played huge. No way you pay money to see this movie and walk out dissapointed.
— Steven Weintraub (@colliderfrosty) March 16, 2015
Furious 7 is the biggest, most over-the-top film in the franchise. The set pieces are insane. It’s also rightfully very emotional. — Talk Film Society (@TalkFilmSoc) March 16, 2015
I just watched the worlds 1st public screening for #furious7 at #sxsw – unbelievable. Amazing. https://t.co/fjXDR0orL8
— Peter Syravong #sxsw (@petersyravong) March 16, 2015
Why should #Furious7 be the best film in Fast & Furious series?!? Simply, because it’s directed by #JamesWan @creepypuppet
— Joeking (@youssef_aljalam) March 16, 2015
I’ll save a full review for after the film’s release, but I have to say #Furious7 was incredible. Most amazing ride yet.
— Meg Turney (@megturney) March 16, 2015
Furious 7 hits theaters on April 7, 2015.