I’m not sure when exactly it happened (probably around 2011’s Fast Five, thanks Dwayne), but the Fast & Furious Franchise quickly became a serious guilty pleasure of mine.

Since moving from a street racing-based franchise to an Avengers-esq gathering of franchise heroes with a touch of Ocean’s 11-style high-end heisting, I haven’t been able to escape these films. Fast Five and Fast & Furious 6 mark two of the most insanely enjoyable action movies of the decade so far, so it goes without saying that I - like many others of you - was very much looking forward to Furious 7 for Summer 2014.

Unfortunately, however, life had another plan for us all. With the tragic - and ironic - death of star Paul Walker in a high-speed car crash during a production break, Universal Pictures, and the film’s cast (lead by star and producer Vin Diesel) had to take a long step away from the film, and really decide if they wanted to finish it - and also - if they could finish the film.

Furious 7 finally hit theaters last week, and I’m pleased to say that while the final film doesn’t entirely hit the highs of Fast Five and Fast & Furious 6, the end result is another insane action film, filled with heart as it sends off one of its key players.

Set shortly after Fast & Furious 6 - which in and of itself is sort of followed by Fast & Furious: Tokyo Drift, the third film in the franchise - Furious 7 thrusts us into the world of Deckard Shaw (action legend Jason Statham). Shaw is the brother of Owen Shaw - the villain of the last installment - who is out for revenge, aimed directly at Dominic Torretto (Diesel) and his makeshift “family”, the stars of this franchise. He kills off Asian racer Han (as shown in the post-credits scene of Fast & Furious 6), he puts Hobbs (Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson) in the hospital, and is aiming to take the rest of the crew out.

This of course worries Dom, as he is obsessed with two things: cars, and the protection of his “family”, which has become a bit more official with his sister Mia’s (Jordana Brewster) involvement with ex-cop Brian O’Connor (Paul Walker). The two even have a child now, which means that Brian can’t quite get called into as many insane adventures anymore. Add that Dom’s love interest Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) is still dealing with the amnesia she had when she came back from the dead - yes, that’s a thing - and Dom’s got a lot on his plate this installment.

This plot - somewhat straight forward, pitting Dom vs. Shaw in a battle to protect everything he knows and loves - is further complicated with three additions: (1) a shadowy government organization lead by “Mr. Nobody” (Kurt Russell), who wishes to have Dom help them find (2) a hacker named Ramsey (Game of Thrones' Nathalie Emmanuel), who is being held captive by (3) a terrorist group lead by Mose Jakande (Djimon Hounsou), who wishes to have control of an observation software called the “God’s Eye”, which allows the user to monitor every and all camera, cellphone communication and satelite to track anyone in the world. They tie this together as Mr. Nobody offering Dom the chance to easily find Shaw in return for completing the rescue mission, but as you can see - it’s three additional plot points that muddy a pretty straightforward story.

Perhaps this is due to the off screen tragedy - with the movie only half complete at the time of Walker’s passing, director James Wan (Insidious), Vin Diesel and writer Chris Morgan worked hard to pull the movie back together and deliver something that both came together and and served as a farewell to Walker’s character.

For the most part - they succeeded.

The action remains intense and insane, featuring the same eye-popping stunts and mind-bending physics fans have come to expect in the franchise. Since the shift of the franchise after Fast Five, Furious 7 again delivers an Avengers-esq gathering of leads who do the impossible. The action peaks somewhat early with a jaw dropping smash-and-grab sequence where the team aims to rescue Ramsey, which involves a mountain side race, mounted turrets, a giant armored bus, and (of course) a group of cars being dropped from an airplane. Wan, who is new to the franchise, shows himself an adept director of action, shooting very unique hand-to-hand combat with dizzying camera work, but has the steady hand to allow the vehicular action to breathe, letting fans take in how crazy the creators of this franchise are to do what they do with (mostly) real cars completing the stunts.

I could mention a few flaws of the film, namely that with Han and Giselle gone (and Hobbs sidelined), the cast doesn’t feel as “fun”, and how new additions Tony Jaa and Rhonda Rousey basically just serve the film to star in some visceral fight sequences (which in Rousey’s case, may be best - she’s an incredible fighter, but not so great at the line reads…still love you, girl!). But the fact is, in the face of incredible adversity, Wan, Diesel and the entire Furious family pulled this film together. Sometimes it definitely feels held together by gum, spit and hope, but it remains another immensely enjoyable installment in arguably one of the finest franchises going today.

Besides, Furious 7 deserves all of your money for finally proving one thing: Iggy Azalea causes PTSD.

Furious 7 is in theaters now.