Regardless of how good or bad Furious 7 really is, there's always going to be one thing hanging over the movie. In late 2013, star Paul Walker was tragically killed in a car crash in California. Furious 7 was, at the time, in the middle of production, and the future of the franchise was in question.
However, after speaking with Walker's surviving family, it was decided that Furious 7 would continue on. Walker's brothers, Caleb and Cody, would be used as stand-ins, and the film would serve as a tribute to the late actor.
While fans of the franchise were happy that it would continue on, Furious 7's completion raised a very important question: how would the film deal with Walker's death?
The team revealed that it would use CG to finish out Walker's scenes, and that his character would be retired instead of killed, but nothing specific was ever detailed. As such, many were worried that the film might not do Walker justice - thankfully, that isn't the case.
Warning: major spoilers for Furious 7' follow.
Following their 'one last ride' to take down the villainous Deckard Shaw (Jason Stathom), Brian O'Conner (Walker) and Dom (Vin Diesel) join the rest of the crew on a beach in the Dominican Republic. Mia and Brian's son Jack play on the beach, and Brian comes to a realization: with his second child on the way, it's time to leave his life on the road behind him. As Brian goes to join his wife and child, Dom plans to leave without saying goodbye - after all, "It's never goodbye."
Of course, Dom's exit doesn't go quite as planned: Brian catches up to him, and they decide to say goodbye in the only way that makes sense...with one final quarter-mile race.
A literal fork in the road appears as Dom reminisces about Brian truly being family, and the two finally go their separate ways. Dom tells Brian that he'll always be his brother, and a montage of Walker's work throughout the series begins to play. Everything, from the original Fast and the Furious throughout Furious 7, is included in the montage, and the film comes to an end.
It's clear that this wasn't just a send-off for Walker's character: this was the team behind the film saying goodbye to Walker himself.
The Fast and the Furious films have never been known for their emotional storytelling - it's much more about explosions and fast cars than gripping narrative drama - but it's easy to see that this final send-off has more heart in it than most other movies can muster.
Furious 7 opens on April 3.
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