"Furious 7" is one wild ride.

If you like action films, the action is, true to the series' titles, fast and furious.

"Furious 7," generically named because it's the seventh in the "Fast And Furious" franchise, reunites the band of brothers and sisters, including Paul Walker, who died in a nonfilm-making related car crash before his scenes were completed for the seventh installment.

In scenes that weren't completed, the image of Paul Walker's head was, through the magic of computer-generated imagery, grafted onto the body of his brother.

"Furious 7," with its team of military and weapons experts, takes on the appearance of the classic film, "The Magnificent Seven" (1960). Instead of palominos, pintos and quarter horses, these 21st century cowboys barrel along in muscle cars, SUVs and armor-plated vehicles.

The storyline is difficult to follow for movie-goers not steeped in the "Fast And Furious" lore and previous six installments. Then again, the plot is simple:

Jason Statham (Deckard Shaw) is the bad guy. And all the others, Vin Diesel (Dominic Toretto), Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson (Hobbs), Paul Walker (Brian O'Conner), Melissa Rodriguez (Letty), Ludacris (Tej), Tyrese Gibson (Roman) and newcomer Nathalie Emmanuel (Ramsey), are the good guys. Kurt Russell shows up as a government executive type, also a good guy,

The storyline's NSA-style surveillance, called God's Eye, moves along the plot.

Director James Wan ("Insidious 1, 2," 2010, 2013;"Saw," 2004) directs the action, mayhem and violence of the "vehicular warfare" with the glee of a child smashing toy cars and trucks in his sandbox.

There are several mano a mano and one "womano a womano" martial arts fight scenes.

Wan uses a Scorsese-like circling camera movement to dizzying effect.

The action is heart-pounding. The pace is nail-biting.

Wan allows some quiet moments for the movie-goer to get into the psyche of the main characters, as to what, you might say, drives them. There are especially memorable moments between Rodriguez and Diesel and Diesel and Walker.

The screenplay by Chris Morgan ("Fast And Furious" three through six, 2006, 2009, 2011, 2013) based on the characters created by Gary Scott Thompson ("Fast And Furious" one and two, 2001, 2003) has some good quips, coy talking smack and snarky observations, but is mainly monosyllabic.

There's lots of eye candy in the movie for male and female audience members.

"Furious 7" has several big action set locations, including Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. This larger than life location is perfectly suited for the movie's larger than life action.

At more than two hours, the movie runs a bit long. For fans of the "Fast And Furious" genre, it could go on forever.

Judging from the "Furious 7" domestic opening haul of $147 million and world wide of $406 million, it just may.

The studio bosses are already revving up "Furious 8."

"Furious 7," MPAA Rated PG-13 (Parents Strongly Cautioned. Some Material May Be Inappropriate For Children Under 13.) for prolonged frenetic sequences of violence, action and mayhem, suggestive content and brief strong language; Genre: Action, Crime, Thriller; Run time: 2 hours; 17 mins.; Distributed by Universal Pictures.

Credit Readers Anonymous: "Furious 7" states "For Paul" at the top of the closing credits, in memory of Paul Walker.

Box Office, April 10: "Furious 7" continued zooming along at No. 1, two weeks in a row, with a still powerful $60.5 million, and a phenomenal $252.5 million after two weeks, with "Home" again finding a home at No. 2, with a nice $19 million, and $129.5 million, three weeks, keeping the Nicholas Sparks scripted romantic-drama, "The Longest Ride," starring Scott Eastwood, opening at No. 3, with a so-so $13.5 million;

4. "Get Hard," $8.6 million, $71.2 million, three weeks; 5. "Cinderella," $7.2 million, $180.7 million, five weeks; 6. "The Divergent Series: Insurgent," $6.8 million, $114.8 million, four weeks; 7. "Woman In Gold," $5.8 million, $9.3 million, two weeks; 8. "It Follows," $2 million, $11.7 million, five weeks; 9. "Danny Collins," $1.6 million, $2.4 million, four weeks; 10. "While We're Young," $1.3 million, $2.3 million, three weeks

Unreel, April 17:

"Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2," PG: Kevin James again plays the intrepid security guard, this time vacationing in Vegas in the comedy.

"Unfriended," R: A group of online chat friends are haunted by a mysterious force that hacks the account of a dead friend.

"Child 44," R: Tom Hardy, Noomi Rapace and Gary Oldman star in the thriller about murders in Stalin-era Soviet Union.

"Monkey Kingdom," G: The Disney Nature documentary follows a mother monkey and her newborn baby in the South Asia jungles.

"True Story," R: James Franco and Jonah Hill star in the drama about a New York Times reporters whose identity has been co-opted by a killer.

"Beyond The Reach," R: Michael Douglas stars in the thriller as a corporate titan on a misguided hunting trip in the Mojave Desert.

Read Paul Willistein's movie reviews at the Lehigh Valley Press web site, thelehighvalley-press.com; the Times-News web site, tnonline.com; and hear them on "Lehigh Valley Art Salon," 6 - 6:30 p.m. Mondays, WDIY 88.1 FM, wdiy.org, where the movie reviews are archived. Email Paul Willistein: pwillistein@ tnonline.com. Follow Paul Willistein on Twitter @PaulWillistein and friend Paul Willistein on facebook.

Three Popcorn Boxes out of Five Popcorn Boxes