Outrageous. Ridiculous. Excessive. It’s fair to use all three words when describing the current state of the “Fast & Furious” franchise. 25 years ago, those adjectives would never be used to describe the first movie in the franchise, “The Fast and the Furious.”
I’ve seen every single movie in the “Fast & Furious” saga, including the spin-off, which relied more on comedy than racing. Considering what the movies have become, I miss the days of tuna sandwiches, 10-second cars, and Race Wars. There is a simplicity about “The Fast and the Furious” that I miss, and I’m hoping “Fast Forever” can recapture what made this once-great franchise so special.
'Point Break' with cars
“The Fast and the Furious” is a movie I hold near and dear to my heart because it introduced me to one of my favorite on-screen tandems: Dominic Toretto and Brian O’Conner. Let’s call it like it is: “The Fast and the Furious” is “Point Break” with street racing. In this comparison, Paul Walker is Keanu Reeves’ Johnny Utah, while Vin Diesel channels Patrick Swayze’s Bodhi, but with more muscles and sleeveless T-shirts.
Officer Brian O’Conner (Walker) is tasked with going undercover to find out the group responsible for hijacking trucks carrying valuable electronics. The cops believe these criminals are street racers, so Brian’s job is to infiltrate the racing community to find the thieves. He starts with Dominic Toretto (Diesel), an alpha male in every sense of the word. Dom is one of the best street racers in L.A., and everyone knows it, including Brian, who spends his days eating tuna fish sandwiches and flirting with Dom’s sister, Mia (Jordana Brewster), at Toretto’s Market & Cafe.
To gain Dom’s respect, Brian enters an illegal street race. It’s one of the most integral scenes in the entire franchise because it establishes everything you need to know about Brian and Dom. Brian is the Scottie Pippen to Dom’s Michael Jordan. Brian is talented in his own right, but when push comes to shove, when it’s winning time, Dom always prevails, which leads to his iconic speech: “It don't matter if you win by an inch or a mile. Winning's winning.”
After the race, Brian saves Dom from getting busted by the cops, which turns out to be the best thing for their relationship. They become brothers by choice, not by blood. Dom is clearly the older brother in this situation because he dials up the monologues and life lessons in the second half of the movie. Dominic “Socrates” Toretto tells Brian his life’s motto: “I live my life a quarter-mile at a time.”
Once the movie gets to Race Wars, “The Fast and the Furious” floors it to the finish line. The highway heist is an exhilarating sequence, highlighted by the veins on Vin Diesel’s head popping out as he reaches out the window to grab Vince. It all culminates with a final quarter-mile race between Brian and Dom, which ends in the latter crashing his car into a truck. With sirens blaring, Brian hands his keys to Bodhi ... I mean Dom and lets him drive away. With that moment, Brian says goodbye to his life as a cop and chooses his new brother over the job.
It was a simpler time in “The Fast and the Furious.” No fate-of-the-world consequences. No thwarting cyberterrorists. Just gorgeous cars, family drama, and a lot of NOS.
The moment the franchise leveled up
Everyone — and by everyone, I mean the franchise’s haters — believes the “Fast & Furious” saga became a juggernaut that churned out massive hits right away. That’s not the case. Diesel, an actor synonymous with this iconic character, opted to do “xXx” instead of the sequel “2 Fast 2 Furious.” Walker sat out the third movie, “The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift,” and Diesel only appeared in a cameo role. With all due respect to Christopher Nolan, the less time I spend talking about “Tokyo Drift,” the better.
Diesel and Walker eventually reunited for “Fast & Furious,” which proved there was an appetite for these movies. Then, the entire trajectory of the franchise changed in “Fast Five.” Instead of focusing on smaller, grounded stories, “Fast Five” raised the stakes and transformed into a full-blown action franchise. It’s an international heist movie in which Dom, Brian, and their crew attempt to steal $100 million from a drug lord. I’m not good with money, but I’d say the money inside the vault is worth a little more than some DVD players.
“Fast Five” is when the franchise leaned into the ridiculous as long as it looked cool on-screen. Brian and Dom driving through the streets of Rio de Janeiro with a vault attached to their cars is awesome. It would also never happen in reality, but I’m willing to suspend my disbelief, especially in the fight of the century, where Diesel bests Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.
The shift to emphasize action set pieces and deprioritize car races paid off, as “Fast Five” became the highest-grossing movie in the franchise at $626 million worldwide. That financial record would be broken by “Fast & Furious 6,” which grossed $788 million worldwide, and then “Furious 7,” the current leader for the franchise’s highest-grossing movie at $1.5 billion.
This three-movie stretch from “Fast Five” through “Furious 7” is when this franchise soared to new heights. It might be best remembered for how it honored Walker, who tragically died in 2013. The ending of “Furious 7” should be studied by film schools when discussing the best ways to say goodbye to a character. It’s so beautiful that I’m willing to look past the fact that Dom has boots on at the beach.
The franchise has lost its way, but it can be fixed
The nail in the coffin for me happened in “F9.” You know what I’m about to say. It’s when Roman and Tej take a modified Pontiac Fiero into space. This is the moment the “Fast & Furious” franchise lost its way. “F9” was a mess, and “Fast X” only made things worse.
Acceptance is the first step to recovery. Diesel has indicated the franchise must return to its grounded roots in “Fast Forever,” the so-called “Fast & Furious” finale. The rest of the cast, including Michelle Rodriguez, also knows the final movie must scale down.
I don’t think “Fast & Furious” can return to hijacking trucks and stealing electronic goods. It can, however, channel the spirit of the first movie when the cars were front and center. It’s time to return to living life one quarter-mile at a time.
Watch the first seven "The Fast and the Furious" movies on Netflix
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