The "Fast and Furious" Saga Thread

Double feature time!


2 Fast 2 Furious (2003)



The best part of this sophomore outing of the franchise, sadly, isn't actually in the movie, and that's the moment where the studio executive in charge first heard that someone genuinely wanted to call their $76m investment 2 Fast 2 Furious. It's a gloriously awful title that's kind of perfect, in that it embodies the movie's utter lack of pretension in search of a good time. I mean, just look at that garish red t-shirt on Walker in the above picture. That's his outfit for the movie's last act and last scene. It's all just lovably dopey. This is a movie set in Miami that doesn't even manage to have a gratuitous beach scene.

Okay, on to the movie. This is the main series' only entry without any Vin Diesel - not even a picture - but the script nicely references Dom in a surprisingly moving moment when Brian O'Conner (Paul Walker) tells his childhood friend Roman Pierce (Tyrese) that his guilt over Roman going to jail likely played a part in him letting Dom go. As for the plot, it's a goofy mishmash of street racing and pulp drug-lord flick. Ludacris enlivens things as a wildly successful garage owner and all-around bon vivant, and Eva Mendes is beautiful albeit underused as the not-quite love interest - this movie is ultimately about Brian and Roman's brotherly love. They are... dare I say... like fambly.

Grade: B+
 

Fast & Furious (2009)



On to the fourth part, which, due to Tokyo Drift taking place out of sequence, is actually part three. (Where exactly Better Luck Tomorrow fits in, I don't know.) But, be sure to watch the 20-minute short Los Bandoleros, reuniting Dom and Letty Ortiz (Michelle Rodriguez), first, as Rodriguez gets almost as much screen time there as in the movie itself. As, for that matter, does Han Lue (Sung Kang).

Plot-wise, the movie is a bit of a 2 Fast rehash - a drug baron is hiring street race drivers to move his product/cash. Gal Gadot's Gisele Yashar appears (and how!) as a baddie who unsuccessfully throws herself at Dom, in what is clearly meant to illustrate his grief, but instead just fuels the ho yay between himself and Brian. Yes, just as the first movie was a tale of Brian briefly joining the Toretto family under false pretenses, and 2 Fast was about Brian and Roman renewing their brotherhood, this flick is about Brian renewing his commitment to Dom... I mean Dom's sister Mia (Jordana Brewster)... or maybe them both? The movie is intriguingly dark and somber, looking like a neo-noir much of the time, despite its LA setting. Truly, this a world that will not find peace or solace under the heroes' fambly is whole.

Grade: B

A Knight's Tale (2001)    (US Netflix until October)



Yes, this is a Fast & Furious flick: Heath Ledger's William is an ancestor of Paul Walker's Brian O'Conner, and I won't have anyone say otherwise!

A Knight's Tale is bright, cheerful, and big-hearted. Ledger is charmingly dopey, Paul Bettany is magnetic as Chaucer, and the rest of the cast, including Alan Tudyk, Rufus Sewell, and James Purefoy are solid. Love interest Shannyn Sossamon is game and very pretty, but it was a serious error to cast the even more striking Bérénice Bejo as her lady-in-waiting, which undercuts the primary romantic dynamic in which William is constantly tongue-tied by Jocelyn's beauty. Then we're introduced to a female blacksmith who's also quite easy on the eyes, and start to wonder just what's in this medieval drinking water that's evidently turning nearly everyone into head-turners. (Did I mention James Purefoy is around, too? Or that Olivia Williams was cut?!) And while I couldn't confirm it, TV Tropes claims the second unit filmed the scene in which the crowd sings/claps "We Will Rock You" as a lark that was kept in, which might explain why the extras appear so disinterested and asynchronous. Since this scene opens the movie, it should have been reshot.

Over the course of 130 minutes, the jousting becomes a bit tiresome - it's the same gallop, crash, pained reaction shots montage again and again, with very little variation. (Where's some third-act dragons when you need them?) That said, the production value is great, and there's a late infusion of heart and emotion that closes things out quite nicely. The Galloping and the Testy is no classic, but it's good, wholesome fun that's well worth a spin. Shame on the Blu-ray team, however, for failing to carry over the 20 minutes of deleted scenes, commentary, and more from the DVD.

Grade: B

Fast Five (2011)



Fast Five was the first of the franchise I watched, checking it out on Netflix DVD a few months after its release. Since then, I've seen all the other flicks (apart from TD), but had never revisited 5 until now. So, does its reputation as the series' finest entry hold up?

Honestly... not quite. Although Dom is freed in the opening sequence, it takes a while for the core trio of him, Brian, and Mia to actually join up. I guess this was a plot necessity in that the writers wanted the reunion to coincide with Mia's pregnancy announcement, and there hadn't been enough in-story time by the end of 4. As a result, however, getting to the start of the heist story is a bit of a slog. Much like The Avengers, one wants the big team-up story to hit the ground running, but, while the characters have had separate origin stories, the group now needs an origin story of its own before things can really take off.

This is of course also Luke "The Rock" Hobbs' debut, although he's far more glowering and quasi-villainous here than in subsequent entries (by 7, he's a teddy bear with an out-of-nowhere young daughter). As such, he's certainly an imposing presence, but he's not all that much fun. Indeed, the whole movie is more serious and not as much fun as I'd remembered - which isn't to say it's bad; I just prefer the outright goofiness of 2, 7, and the non-Dom parts of 8. When the crew finally assembles, there's a lot of fun interplay, and the climactic vault chase is solid, but completely lacking in fisticuffs, or even an imposing villain. Fast Five united lead characters from several previous flicks a year before The Avengers did, which made it notable at the time, but that novelty has worn off with subsequent entries. I'm right on the B/B+ line with this one, but, ultimately, I'll go with a...

Grade: B+

I was hoping this video would reference the Corman film, which I haven't even seen, and was not disappointed! Only five more days until F9 finally revs up here the States.

Mild spoilers...


F9 (2021)



10 years after the breakout hit Fast Five, and a whole 20 years after the original film, F9 is finally here.

2017's The Fate of the Furious was the first Fast film developed after Paul Walker's death, and his absence allowed The Rock's ensemble player Luke Hobbs to be promoted to co-lead of that film. F9, however, is the first Fast flick developed since Dwayne Johnson was diverted to his own spinoff franchise, allowing Vin Diesel and returning director Justin Lin (coming off the horrible Star Trek Beyond) to re-center Dominic Toretto as the undisputed center of the saga. This time around, the second lead part goes to John Cena's Jakob Toretto, Dom's previously unmentioned brother (genetic half-brother? it's unclear), who is nicely established in numerous flashbacks to the death of their father in 1989. Cena is a far more satisfying antagonist than Cipher (Charlize Theron) was in Fate, but in this series, does anyone seriously expect a character like him, played by an actor like that, to stay bad?

In terms of the saga at large, F9 feels a lot like Age of Ultron, which gets referenced (plagiarized?) in an early scene of the Torettos working on a tractor in a verdant, off-the-grid farm. (Subsequent scenes are heavily reminiscent of Civil War's climax and Steve's punching bag scene in The Avengers.) With Cipher spending most of the movie sidelined, and Diesel and Cena doing their thing, the rest of the FAMBLY is largely tasked with bringing Han (Sung Kan) and Sean Boswell (Tokyo Drift's Lucas Black) back into the fold. Han's much-balleyhooed return is... fine, I guess. As a longtime Fast fan, I was never too concerned with the #JusticeForHan meme, and the list of dead characters keeps getting smaller - surely the next flick will introduce Gisele's (Gal Gadot's) previously unmentioned identical twin?

The action and set pieces are pretty good this time; Justin Lin stages the vehicular mayhem well, and the fisticuffs have some cool moves, but the latter are cut much too quickly. As for the ridiculousness quotient, anyone who, like me, enjoyed the submarine battle at the end of Fate will likely find much to grin over here.

At nearly two and a half hours, Fate is a long flick, but it mostly moves well. Now that the FAMBLY has been fully re-assembled, I look forward to the upcoming two-part conclusion, not least because we're being promised they will be the conclusion to the saga, ongoing spinoffs notwithstanding, of course. It's been a great ride, and it deserves an epic conclusion, but Diesel's instincts are correct in deciding the time has come to wrap things up, albeit in a typically over-the-top fashion. For a wheel-spinning, table-setting entry, F9 is pretty good fun.

Grade: B

I saw a suggestion on the internet the other day for a title for next one:

Fast10 Your Seatbelts

This needs to happen.

I mean, that's definitely a moderately funny joke, but they did just do a pun title last time around (movie #8) with The Fate of the Furious...

Gaith said:

I mean, that's definitely a moderately funny joke, but they did just do a pun title last time around (movie #8) with The Fate of the Furious...

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I mean is the series anything other than a self aware romp!? Why not take it all the way?

^ Because, as I've said, the joke has already been done, and wouldn't be as funny the second time around? And there's a fine line between winking at the audience and shamelessly mugging. IMO, F9 gets the balance right, mostly with Tyrese's comedy relief, whereas Hobbs & Shaw went too far into outright bufoonery, both from its two leads and with supporting players Ryan Reynolds and Kevin Hart.

Is 2 Fast the franchise's most dramatically meaty film? This essay by the always great Ben from Canada makes a strong case. Don't be thrown by the gimmicky thumbnail and title; this is first-rate analysis:

Gaith said:

Is 2 Fast the franchise's most dramatically meaty film? This essay by the always great Ben from Canada makes a strong case. Don't be thrown by the gimmicky thumbnail and title; this is first-rate analysis:

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This was a great video, I'll definitely have to check out their other content.

Spoilers...


Fast X (2023)



I've been a longtime sincere fan of the Fast Saga. I've unironically loved how it transformed from a small-time schlocky crime thriller to a massive superhero story, and I've genuinely enjoyed the maximalist last few outings (not counting the disappointing and irrelevant Hobbs & Shaw). I thought Charlize Theron was a great casting choice for a series-ending Big Bad, and, while I was annoyed that her Cipher was yet another generically apolitical villain, she at least had a real sense of menace in F8. Having her be captured by other baddies in F9 was an unexpected choice, but it was an effective way of allowing Jakob Toretto to make a strong first impression. F9 was a minor step down from the previous two flicks, and resurrecting Han was pointless, but giving him an adopted kid was cute, and, with The Rock having stepped away from the ensemble, bringing in John Cena to make up for the increasingly dull Dom was a wise move. In short, it seemed as if the series was on track for a satisfying finale.

Alas, instead of racing off to the finish line, Fast X drove right off the road into a boggy ditch; It's easily the worst of the nine core films so far. (By which I mean, I personally don't count Tokyo Drift or Hobbs & Shaw as main-line entries, and I still haven't seen the former.) After a nifty introduction to the new baddie Dante Reyes (Jason Momoa), Cipher gets captured again, seemingly in order to start her on yet another irritating and unearned path to redemption. Tej, Roman, Ramsey and Han seem to have had zero character growth since F9, and their many scenes together are therefore leaden and tedious. (Where's Lucas Black when you need him? Or Han's adoptive daughter/ward?!) Mia is quickly forgotten, Letty is sidelined with Ciper, and Jakob and "Little Brian" go off on their own directionless tangent. The only character with any real forward momentum, therefore, is the go-it-alone Dom, which is a disastrous development, as he's long since become the most uninteresting and torpid of the bunch.

Several new characters are introduced, each more useless than the last. We get Mr. Nobody's daughter (Brie Larson), even though Little Nobody (Scott Eastwood) is also back after sitting out F9. There's also Ames (Alan Ritchson), the new director of the still-unnamed Agency, who gets a kinda-fun scene lampshading the ridiculousness of The Family's story, but his character becomes meaningless when it's revealed that he's been an ally of Dante Reyes all along. Hobbs, Deckerd Shaw, and Magdalene Shaw all make yawn-worthy cameos, with no reference to Owen or Hattie Shaw. The movie then closes with a thunderously uninteresting and wordless cameo by Gal Gadot, who is no doubt reprising her role as Gisele, though I continue to hope she's playing a previously unnamed identical twin, because all these resurrections have gone from endearingly goofy to completely insufferable. We also get the introduction of a previously unmentioned sister of Elena (the mother of Little Brian), which makes Dom and Letty seem even less likable, given they've never bothered to introduce her to her nephew. At this point, it's hard not to buy into the online speculation that the movies have to keep introducing new characters for Dom to interact with because none of the established cast can stand being around Vin Diesel while they collect their easy paychecks. (By the way, Diesel has recently been sued for alleged sexual assault.) Hey, did I mention Rita Moreno plays Dom's previously unmentioned paternal grandfather, who just flew in for a Family barbecue? Where has she been this whole time?!

So, where does all this leave us? Jakob, Tej, Roman, Ramsey and Han are all supposedly killed in the climax, and maybe one or two of them actually will be confirmed dead in the next installment, but until then, it's impossible to care. Ever since The Family regained their beloved home and barbecue-ready backyard at the end of Six, the saga has been one long tale of abruptly surfacing vengeance-minded villains after another, and it's now incredibly stale. F9, while not as strong as Seven or Fate, at least had a strong emotional hook with Jakob and the Toretto family flashbacks, paired with Cena's charismatic presence, and also gave fans their long-awaited, cheer-worthy jaunt to space. Keeping the now-reformed Jakob and Dom apart for the entirety of X (they only interact via walkie-talkie in the climactic action sequence) was a grievous error, which leaves the movie with almost nothing to offer; there's only Momoa playing an incoherent and cartoonishly unhinged mix of Jim Carrey's Riddler and Jack Sparrow.

If the next movie manages to team up Dom and Jakob for much of its run, I guess there's a chance the saga could muster one last entertaining entry. Otherwise, I fear this is one 1970 Dodge Charger of a saga that may be out of gas at last.

Grade: D

For me it was way better than 9 and I had great fun at theaters.

8/10 easily, enjoyed it more than 2, 3, 4 and H&S. And more than GOTG#3 too

If the next movie manages to team up Dom and Jakob

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I know that

And my ranking:

1. Fast Five / Furious 6
2. Fate
3. Fast X / Fast 7
4. The Fast & The Furious (inferior remake of Point Break, didnt like it after first viewing but enjoyed it later)
5. Fast 9
6. Fast & Furious (dont like this one, rewatching for continuity reasons only)

----and the movies that I've never rewatched, do not own them and consider them to be useless-----

7. Hobbs & Shaw
8. 2F2F
9. Tokyo Drift