One of the best things about theFast and the Furious franchise is that, for a while, it totally reinvents itself with each film. In a world of cookie-cutter studio filmmaking, it's remarkable that this series doesn't settle on any particular formula until its sixth entry, Fast and Furious 6. While that formula is ultimately a good one, having been set by the inimitableFast Five,it's also a bit of a letdown to see these films switch into cruise control after so much swerving and drifting.
Alas, that's just what Justin Lin does in his fourth time in the director's chair. Things chug along in a steady but workmanlike fashion, everyone on the team has their standard action movie quips, and the whole film feels the safest and most Marvel-like of all the entries. The most notable sequence is a dimly-lit finale as endless as the airport runway on which it takes place. Fast & Furious Justin Lin's second offering in the franchise is an entertaining, yet messy movie. After Letty's sudden murder, Dom Toretto embarks on a mission to find the killer of his beloved, while former friend and now FBI agent Brian O'Connor is assigned to infiltrate a drug lord that might just be responsible for Letty's death.
Released after Tokyo Drift, Fast & Furious surprised audiences by revealing itself as the first in a trilogy of prequels, taking place between the second and third film in the series. Though reuniting the original cast, the tone is all over the place here as it fails to understand the basics of the saga by taking itself too seriously. Something you wouldn't expect with Lin behind the camera. One moment it has the over-the-top, goofy tone that makes these movies fun, the next is a full-on melodrama trying to tell a compelling revenge story that simply isn't there. The racing scenes are fun to watch, but, even then, they don't do much to elevate this boring entry in The Fast Saga, which might just be the worst thing you can possibly be in a franchise whose only purpose is to entertain. Back when the series was still about street racing, Boyz N The Hood director John Singleton revved up this ridiculously-monikered sequel – the only film in the main franchise not to feature a single frame of Vin Diesel's Dom Toretto.
That left it up to Paul Walker's Brian O'Conner to shoulder proceedings, this time hiding out in Miami and roped into an FBI plot to take down a drug lord. Right from the ridiculous chrome-plated Universal logo in its opening credits, 2 Fast is the series at its most cartoonish – all candy-colours, cheese-fest dialogue, and hyperactive visuals. Credit, though, for introducing Tyrese Gibson's Roman and Ludacris' Tej – and giving us Brian's fan-favourite blue-striped Nissan Skyline.
But as fun as "Hobbs and Shaw" is, the film is weighed down a bit by venturing into the sci-fi genre. Idris Elba is a great addition as a villain, but the idea of a cybergenetically enhanced superhuman who, along with an evil global organization, trying to destroy the human race is a bit silly. He feels like a "Terminator" or Superman villain and you just can't help but wonder what movie you're watching at times. After all, this franchise started with illegal street racing. Vin Diesel is nowhere to be seen, nor is Paul Walker's barber.
So Brian O'Conner shows up in Miami's street racing scene, where his frosted boy band locks somehow don't get him immediately tossed out on his rear end, and he teams up with his childhood pal from Barstow, Roman Pearce (Tyrese Gibson, welcome!), to take down a local drug lord . The self-serious tone of the first film is broken up by Tyrese, who provides needed comic relief, and somehow didn't go on to a career of comedy roles outside of the "Fast" series. Director John Singleton shoots some cool low angle frames but he can't work around Walker's unconvincing line readings where he calls Tyrese's character "cuz," and his big action scene involves dozens (hundreds?) of cars just kind of showing up and driving around.
Hauser's drug lord would barely cut it on an episode of "Miami Vice," but at least Ludacris is brought into the fold here as Tej, a man about town who knows how to get things done and winds up becoming an integral part of the "Fast" family going forward. The last time the series seemed stalled out with no new roads to explore, Justin Lin took the wheel and brought it roaring back to life. So it seems only appropriate that after the low-point ofFate of the Furious, he'd be the guy waiting in the pit stop to gas things back up. The final entries in theFast Saga start filming in January 2022, butF9 gives the series exactly the boost it needs to send it careening toward the finish line. Some may call much of this one ridiculous, and indeed the climactic exploits of Roman and Tej bring the franchise's increasingly gonzo sensibilities quite literally into space.
However, it's all carried off with such graceful, committed elegance that it feels pointless to complain. The set pieces are bigger, louder, and stupider, but the heart hasn't gone anywhere. After 20 years, sans Paul Walkerandthe Rock, there's still plenty of gas left in the tank. The most unfairly maligned of the Fast and Furious films, Lin and Morgan's franchise debut is an absolute delight from top to tail; a gleeful series oddball that both stands on its own and introduces a character so beloved the entire franchise timeline was reworked to bring him back. It's easy to see why people are resistant to the film; Tokyo Drift transports the action to Japan, leaving the family behind with an all-new cast of over-the-top high school characters. It also put the focus firmly on the street-racing and hinges on a lead character who is an absolutely unlikeable clown and maybe the worst driver in the world.
Even so, the film takes strength in a simple plot, a star-making turn from Sung Kang, stylish direction from Lin, and the wise instinct to never take itself too seriously. Things have moved fast in the Furious franchise, and every movie after the first film in 2001 has gotten even bigger and more ridiculous, to the point where a submarine was part of a crazy action scene in 2017's The Fate of the Furious. That was a recent addition to a long line of incredible stunts, including moments where a massive safe was dragged along the back of a vehicle during a high-speed chase and when a car was used by the characters to jump from skyscraper-to-skyscraper, hundreds of feet in the sky. Fast Five raised the bar for the Fast and Furious franchise in so many ways.
It changed the style of the movies from being about street racing to an action-packed heist film. It added The Rock to the cast, it also brought back characters from across the franchise, and really brought the theme of family to the forefront. Following a disappointing return of the main characters in Fast and Furious, Fast Five reinvigorated the franchise, thanks namely to the introduction of Johnson's Luke Hobbs and a push away from street racing and more towards having a heist movie storyline. Of course, there are still car chases, but there's certainly an Italian Job sensibility mixed with brilliant action and fight sequences.
Despite its obvious influences, there's an odd charm to the introduction of The Fast Saga. Looking back, it is fun to see Diesel's character not be an indestructible superhero that can jump off a car and land on the floor without a single scratch. It's really easy to forget that after several sequels and a spin-off, this franchise's idea of a big action set piece used to be stealing DVD players, rescuing a friend hanging from a truck and chasing down motorcycles around L.A. In no way is this a bad movie, but it ain't even close to being the best one of the bunch. It's mostly nostalgia that sustains this movie in people's memories.
That's why The Fast And The Furious keeps this spot on the list, it's both a nice throwback to what these movies used to be and a perfect anomaly of how drastically a franchise can change over time with just a few sequels. Fast & Furious is an adequate and functional film, and it was a crucial step in transforming the franchise, but it's stuck somewhere between the street racing drama of the early films and the blissful logic-pummeling action of the later films. That tonal imbalance makes the fourth Furious film a bit of a slog, even though director Justin Lin and screenwriter Chris Morgan were clever enough to reunite the core family and lay the ground groundwork for the films to come. (My brother-in-law has never done this, and I'm disappointed.) Being the actor the director can cut to when you need somebody to say, "OH SHIT THAT WAS RAD AS HELL! " is an underrated skill, and Walker was so good at it.
It didn't feature Dom's love interest Letty or Dom's sister (and later Brian's wife) Mia , or any of the new characters Brian met in 2 Fast. The movie's all-new ensemble made it easy to imagine a long series of diminishing returns for Fast & Furious, if the franchise continued at all. Tokyo Drift remains its box office nadir, so everything petering out after that film was a distinct possibility. An endless series of cheap sequels set around the globe, with casts of inexpensive actors and some cool car stunts, was completely plausible. Critics, who gave the film 77% on Rotten Tomatoes, say that the film gave the franchise new life as car racing took a back seat in favor of more elaborate heists.
It was praised for paving the way for what the franchise would become in later movies and commended the addition of Dwayne Johnson to the cast in his role alongside Vin Diesel. The film also marked the first "Fast & Furious" film to make more than $200 million at the domestic box office. The flick also brought back some beloved characters by way of Han Lue and Gal Gadot's Gisele, while setting the stage for Rodriguez's return. The Fast and the Furious movies are known for their intense, action-packed set pieces.
Even from the first film, the audience is introduced to jaw-dropping stunts and impossible antics. The movies follow a crew of car thieves and street racers run by Vin Diesel as Dominic Toretto. The movies never fail to bring awe-inspiring (and at times head-scratch-inducing) cinematic experiences. In retrospect, it's strange to think that this is where it all started. Looking at the first franchise entry now, it seems shockingly lowkey.
Or, at least lowkey in the way that it's still jacked up and ridiculous. But The Fast and The Furious has its fair share of legendary moments, and it did successfully deliver a cast of fun characters, even if the narrative beats here are a bit expected. The movie operates on a handful of cliches but compensates with a souped-up attitude and a distinctly 2000s style.
If anything, it's a credit to the overall quality of the series that this perfectly serviceable original movie is only ranked at sixth place. The death of Paul Walker left a void in the franchise that not even a giant submarine could fill, although "The Fate of the Furious" tries. A joyless Charlize Theron plays a superhacker named Cipher who wears her hair in spring break cornrows and turns Dom Toretto to the dark side by blackmailing him with the son he didn't know he had. (Family!) The chemistry is off from the starting line – even Tyrese's punchlines don't land like they usually do – and director F. Gary Gray relies heavily on green screens and visual effects that don't look as smooth as what we're accustomed in the "Fast" universe.
A climactic chase along a frozen Russian lake while the characters try to outrun a nuclear submarine is the first time a "Fast" movie feels like it's running out of ideas. At least Helen Mirren, who joins the cast as Statham's character's mother, seems to be having fun. This movie is where we jump into this world of illegal street racing and meet all of the main characters. It was hugely popular when it came out and is more than partly responsible for bringing the sport compact tuner hobby to the forefront. Newer movies in the series have moved past Honda Civics and Volkswagen Jettas, but we'll always have a special place in our hearts for the original. With FF8 costing as much as the two Fast films prior, this is a BIG budget actioner that ramps everything up to 11 with mixed results.
Gary Gray is commendable as director but the plot of Dom turning bad is just a little off. And as much as we love Charlize Theron, she's a touch dull as the Big Bad. But, Kurt Russell is fantastic as Mr Nobody and it's fun to watch the scenes with Vin Diesel and The Rock as they blatantly weren't in the same room together but still demand the exact same screen time, despite hating each other. When villain Owen Shaw takes Mia hostage, Dom and crew have no choice but to rescue her. While this results in some of the team fighting the bad guys inside the plane, the rest are trying to stop the plane by using a series of high-powered cable guns to stop it from being able to take off. With a few surprising emotional moments, including losing a character, the sixth installment ranks fourth on the list.
This spin-off may not feature any of the original cast but it still packs a punch thanks to the unfriendly buddy match-up of Johnson's Hobbs and Statham's Shaw. Feeling more like a superhero movie and serving up less earnestness than the main franchise films, the two eponymous frenemies are forced to team up to stop Idris Elba's superpowered bad guy Brixton, who wants to get his hands on a deadly virus. When Shaw's sister is accused of being a traitor, the three must team up to clear her name and stop the bad guys. 2 Fast 2 Furious (Eli Reed / Universal Pictures)Following the events of The Fast And The Furious, Brian O'Conner — now an ex-LAPD cop — is called back to action to bust a dangerous criminal with the help of a former friend and street racer Roman Pearce .
2 Fast 2 Furious is never really brought up when discussing the franchise as a whole, not even by its core fandom. That comes as no surprise because, unlike the most popular entries in the series, this doesn't have many, if any, note-worthy moments that puts it up there with the more recent movies in the saga. Yes, of course we get the introduction of fan-favorites like Tyrese and Ludacris, but not even their charisma can save this from its forgettable villain and plot you've seen a thousand times before. Sure, it's still fun to see Paul Walker behind the wheel and join random street races, but it's sad to say the only memorable aspect of 2 Fast 2 Furious is its ridiculously fun title and nothing else.
After nine films, the stakes are higher and more ridiculous than ever, but Lin take them increasingly seriously, prompting the wrong kind of laughter from a movie that actually delivers on the promise of sending this group of street racers–turned–international super-spies to space. Bursting with cash but on the verge of bankruptcy for new ideas, F. Gary Gray mounted a handsome, appropriately operatic eighth installment featuring a couple of prestigious foes but arguably the dumbest heel turn in modern movie history. No character has ever championed loyalty more emphatically than Dominic Toretto, so when he gets blackmailed into betraying his former friends and colleagues, every second feels more preposterous than the previous one.
It features the silliest car action of the series -- though, to be fair, Dwayne Johnson does punch a torpedo. "Fate" also betrays the series' central "family" theme by making an ally of Jason Statham's Shaw, who murdered a crew member in a previous film, without ever bothering to address the issue. It's hard to imagine that the billion dollar, globe-spanning franchise that grew to include cars jumping over submarines started here, in the humble, gritty environment of East Los Angeles with tuner Japanese cars. It still holds up after all these years because it's grounded in reality—even the high-speed car jacking of tractor trailers seem like they could actually happen. It's also fun to watch the origins of the unlikely chemistry between Vin Diesel and Paul Walker, seen here in their dewy faced youth. Rocking a title so horrible it somehow comes right back around to being amazing, 2 Fast 2 Furious had few characters returnfrom the first installment, which meant the conspicuous absence of Vin Diesel.
The first sequel in the franchise imagines a world where this entire series is about Paul Walker playing a SoCal himbo cop in a series of car-centric police procedurals. This makes for a stylish and fun opening ten minutes, but his emphasis on aesthetic can't overcome this entry's interminably dull plot. Screenwriting has never been the highlight of these films, but saddling Tyrese with the line "It's a ho-asis in here" is a bridge too far. That's to say nothing of the bizarre casting ofDazed and Confused's Cole Hauser as an Argentinean druglord, without a doubt the series' most lackluster villain.
The fourth entry in the now-titledFast Saga has a lot of heavy-lifting to do.Fast and Furious is the firstreal sequel to the original, the second and third installments missing Vin Diesel, who declined participation due to lackluster writing . It's also series MVP director Justin Lin's first step in revamping the films from a series of exploitation-style underground car flicks to a bona fide, balls-to-the-wall action franchise. As with most of these films, it's hard to imagine the franchise as it is today without it, but on its own, this is one of the more forgettable entries. Toyko Drift stars Lucas Black as a rambunctious teenage rule breaker who is shipped off to live with his deadbeat dad in Tokyo, where he meets his street-racing mentor, Kang's Han "snack attack" Seoul-Oh, and learns a new way to live while he's learning a new way to drive. It's a full-on B-movie blast that's visually splendid, packed with kinetic races and chase scenes, and a playfully respectful riff on the street racing mentor dynamic established in the first film.
Tokyo Drift fearlessly reinvents the franchise, and in doing so it manages to be a completely singular and somewhat detached film in the series, but one that also bizarrely became a crux of the narrative in retrospect. But make no mistake, all the hallmarks international audiences have come to love about the later Furious films are here, making it an essential entry in the franchise - and a delightful one in its own right. Well, you don't, but Lin and Morgan managed to concoct an even wilder brew with Fast & Furious 6, the film that NOS-blasted the franchise into nutso superhero melodrama territory.
This is the Furious film that officially turns its back on all sense of reality, resurrecting Michelle Rodriguez's Letty, giving her a classic case of soap opera amnesia, and throwing the family into a war against a team of their evil doppelgangers with a self-aware wink. Fast & Furious 6 is a mess, with a particularly weak villain in a franchise of weak villains, but it's like foam parties or mud wrestling, a very fun mess with just as many gratuitous butts. However, Fast & Furious commits the biggest Furious sin – the car scenes are just no good. Abandoning all the kinetic splendor and colorful flourish he showed off in Tokyo Drift, Lin opts for dimly-lit, CGI-heavy races and chases, the worst of which are set in a series of underground tunnels where we can barely make out the action.
It also utterly wastes Gal Godot's charm as Giselle, which would blossom in later films, by using her as a prop for Dom's virility. Fast & Furious set the franchise up for a soft reboot and lined up the pieces for something spectacular, but it never put the pieces in play for itself. Brian and Roman have caustic chemistry, but it pales in comparison to the Brian/Dom bromance, leaving a general lack of any relationship worth investing in, which is a huge problem for a film series that thrives on the heart of family. However, 2 Fast 2 Furious does mark a significant step forward for the action, sending cars careening into boats and demolishing them under the wheels of a big rig, and there's that bit of that heartfelt goofiness to the stupidity that keeps things fun. It's my least favorite and the one I turn on least often, but it's still a F&F film, which means you're gonna get some exceptional car action, over-the-top melodrama, and a few hyper-quotable lines of dialogue. The Fast And The Furious isn't the best movie of the franchise, nor does it represent some halcyon age when street racing movies could just be about street racing.
But it does seem to stumble ass backwards into a few good ideas simply by virtue of how hard it was pandering. The basic idea is that it's Point Break in the world of cars. But at the end of Point Break, Johnny Utah just lets Bodhi surf off into the sunset.
Utah is a "nice" Fed who still has a man-crush on Bodhi, but he's still a Fed at the end of the day and he's not just going to let this bank-robbing murderer get away. He ends their tragic love affair by defying his superiors and letting Bodhi kill himself surfing instead of locking him in a cage. Rather, the story of these films is about their characters growing closer and learning to trust each other a little more with every adventure. In D&D terms, they're a high-level party, basically gods within the world of the story but still fallible. Tokyo Drift also added screenwriter Chris Morgan to the franchise, and he wrote every film between Tokyo Drift and Hobbs & Shaw, though he didn't return for F9.
