This weekend, millions of filmgoers will enter a fantasy world where beautiful, fantastical creatures unburdened by the laws of physics will frolic in the richest kingdom on their planet and pilot customized, futuristic machinery that flies through the air.

The story they will see is headlined by a monosyllabic troll who has the supernatural ability to crash high-speed vehicles over and over again and walk away unscathed. This superhero commands unmatched loyalty amongst his band of misfits, despite his reckless abandon and disregard for everyone’s safety.

At this point, if you think that I’m about to badmouth “Furious 7,” the latest entry in the Fast and Furious franchise, for being supremely unrealistic, you’re only half right. To call it unrealistic would be an understatement. I’m comparing it to the worlds of hobbits, starfighters and superheroes because that’s the lens through which I can enjoy this supremely silly hunk of cheese, even as it embarrassingly begs to be taken seriously on some sort of dramatic level.

On one hand, there’s Dwayne Johnson (unfortunately sidelined for much of the film), who delivers his groan-worthy dialogue with a knowing grin that matches the rampant absurdity of the goings-on. On the other, there’s Vin Diesel, who believes every hokey word about family and loyalty that he utters throughout “Furious 7,” even though he hasn’t earned a lick of it. He also famously said this week that he thinks the movie will win best picture at next year’s Oscars.

So, yes, Diesel’s refusal to be in on the joke makes it increasingly difficult to revel in the one thing that makes “Furious 7” special: it’s blatant disregard for logic.

Director James Wan, the stuntmen, choreographers and special effects wizards who dream up these elaborate set pieces — where all manner of moving vehicles do all kinds of impossible things at high speeds with people inside, outside and on top of them — deserve to be celebrated in the same way as stunt and chase pioneers like Charles Chaplin and Buster Keaton. It takes an immense amount of creativity and skill to pull off a chase scene that no one’s ever seen in the almost 90 years since Keaton perfected the art form in “Seven Chances.”

Then again, at a certain point you have to marvel at Diesel’s commitment to the corny. Boy, does he lay it on thick. I can sympathize, though, because it has to be tough when you’re a wrench-wielding badass dealing with an amnesiac wife who’s essentially back from the dead (Michelle Rodriguez) and a former bad boy of a best friend (Paul Walker) who drives a minivan and is now a stay-at-home dad.

In this mythic universe, the only way to protect his beloved family is to put everyone at risk by parachuting souped-up cars out of airplanes and crashing into other vehicles head on. Duh.

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So who cares if the plot doesn’t make sense? The actors are completely secondary and the hoops they jump through to get to the next action scene are just that. Often times screenwriter Chris Morgan puts the expositional dialogue in the mouth of a character only after the action scene has started, because he knows we don’t care why they’re there: We’re already with them. Oh yeah, and Jason Statham is in it, doing Jason Statham things. Eh.

The tragic car crash that took Walker’s life just before he completed filming on this sequel looms over the entire film. His subplot is pretty tiny, and the couple of moments where digital effects cover his absence are a little noticeable, but mostly it’s the last scene in “Furious 7” that achieves real emotion because it plays on the viewer’s knowledge of Walker’s death even as the characters in the film refer to him as Brian. In fact, it’s the only moment in the movie that actually works on multiple levels.

“Furious 7” is pure escapism, playing high-stakes chutes and ladders in a world where the dudes are handsome and muscle-bound, and the girls are falling out of their skimpy bikinis in slow motion. It’s a shame that the rest of the movie has to fall back on these macho stereotypes, so just try to remember that it doesn’t take place in any kind of reality.

No, this is an imperfect fantasy world; the only kind of place where a knuckleheaded dirtbag like Diesel’s Dominic Toretto could put on a tux and pass as an entitled millionaire in Abu Dhabi.

“Furious 7” is rated PG-13 for prolonged frenetic sequences of violence, action and mayhem, suggestive content, brief strong language, and unrealistic expectation that anything in the real world could ever measure up to being this “cool.”

Chaplin short films and The Charlie Crawl

Speaking of silent film icon Charles Chaplin, Liberty Hall is putting on a unique event next Saturday, April 11.

In addition to showing a series of three Chaplin short films at 4 p.m. that day, the theater is holding The Charlie Crawl and encouraging locals to come dressed as Chaplin’s most famous character, The Tramp. Participants are encouraged to “don your derby, slap on a toothbrush mustache, grab your bamboo cane, and congregate at the corner of 10th and Mass. at 2:30 p.m.” where the silent stroll will begin.

Once the Charlies reach Liberty Hall, prizes will be given out for best costumes, and the fun will continue with three of Chaplin’s most revered three-reelers.

“Sunnyside,” from 1919, shows Chaplin cynically parodying his most famous character, while 1918’s “A Dog’s Life” might remind viewers of 2011 best picture winner “The Artist” as The Tramp pals around with his mutt sidekick.

“Shoulder Arms,” also from 1918, is a World War I comedy featuring Chaplin in the trenches in France. At 46 minutes, it’s almost a feature, and the director-star made copies of the film available to fighting troops overseas to cheer them up.

For more info on A Short Journey with Chaplin, go to libertyhall.net.