Vin Diesel is back as Dominic “Dom” Toretto in the eighth installment of the Fast & the Furious film series. Though this time, many franchise plot twists are revealed.

The film starts off with Dom and his wife, Leticia “Letty” Ortiz, played by Michelle Rodriguez, at their honeymoon in Cuba. Dom’s cousin’s car is about to be towed by a wealthy Cuban car dealer. In traditional fashion, Dom comes to save the day and decides to help out his cousin by racing for ownership over the car.

The opening scenes of the film definitely gets audiences on the edge of their seats but also sets a great precursor for the rest of the film.

The true excitement of the film generates when Dom runs into an old nemesis as he walks the streets of Cuba. He learns that Cipher, who is later revealed to be a person– not an organization as portrayed in previous films– is planning to get her hands on nuclear weapons. Dom and Letty’s honeymoon is abruptly interrupted as the team gets back together to defeat Cipher. Luke Hobbs, who is played by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, is reintroduced into the film series as Mr. Nobody, played by Kurt Russell, notifies him of how important of a role Luke plays in preventing a possible World War Three from happening.

Although the team is back together and they are able to get the weapon of mass destruction out of Cipher’s hands, a major change in pace happens as Dom, who has been part of the team since its inception, “goes rogue.”

It is later revealed that Dom does not do this out of selfish desires but rather to save not only his own life, but also the lives of others. The film makes sure to keep audiences engaged as this aspect of the film heightens the anticipation of who Dom really is as a character. Is he really a team member? Or was he in it for something else?

Director F. Gary Gray does a great job at balancing action and suspense during the entirety of the film, keeping the audience engaged. Fate of the Furious truly leaves audiences thinking what the resounding fate of the Fast & the Furious crew will be.

“Fate of the Furious” is an action-packed film that will keep audiences more than awake. The movie is rated PG-13 but is suitable for children ages seven and up with parental guidance due to violence and graphic images.