So with Universal sort of lacking in continuing their different franchises, one that has seemed to got them the most success, is the Fast & Furious films which since 5 has had more success than in the past. Many describe it as a boys series of films with little to nothing for woman to like (unless you're into it for the eye candy of some of the stars) which considering the amount of cars, noise, Ibiza like environments and attractive women, I have to agree with that statement. Now we have the 7th film which after seeing it (and its the first and possibly only one that I've seen at the cinema), has given me enough reason to call it the definitive ending to what has been a mixed bag of a series of films and I'm pretty sure Universal want more films in the series to keep at least one of their well established franchises going, but after the passing of Paul Walker, I don't think anyone will want to come back to it, fans, cast and crew alike. So with the exception of 5 seeing as I've reviewed it already in my all time favourite films list, let's look at this series of films and see how a series started out bad, but turned over a new leaf and became great:
The Fast and the Furious
So this film became the film that not only started the series, but made Vin Diesel and the late Paul Walker household names and firmly put them both on the map. So outside Los Angelas, a truck with some electrical stuff inside, is approached by heavily modified cars who immobilise the driver, hijack the truck and escape. Brian O'Conner (played by Walker) is tasked to go undercover to find the gang responsible for taking the truck away which leads him to a shop called Toretto's Market. There he flirts with his future wife Mia Toretto (played by Jordana Brewster) before being forced to flee by her brother Dominic Toretto (played by Diesel) and his gang. Brain then decides to go against Dom in a street race which he has the advantage, but despite that, loses to Dom who mocks him. However when the police arrive, Brain saves Dom which earns his respect, but as the film plays out, little does he know that O'Conner is in fact a cop. So this film sets the stage for the rest of the series in which Brain and Dom are our two main protagonists and therefore are the leaders of the family, which won't happen for a little while yet. The film I thought was OK. I mean it started off the series well with establishing everything that the series would be known for, but I think from an audience perspective, boys and men will like the film (and probably the rest of the series) better than girls and women, but that's just me. I think Michael Bay would feel right at home if he made any of these films, but thank god he didn't because there would be too much explosions and things dragging on if he did and that does not in any way imply that I can compare these films to his, but he did say once that he only makes films for teenage boys. Anyway, good start to the series, they just need to work on it so that women will enjoy it as well. 8/10
2 Fast, 2 Furious
The only film of the series to not have Vin Diesel in it, also serves some significance in introducing 2 more characters would play key roles in later films, namely Roman Pearce (played by Tyrese Gibson who's only in the film for the money and always tries to have fun which is always great) and Tej Parker (played by the rapper that is Chris "Ludicris" Bridges). The film also has a short prequel film that shows us what Brain O'Conner got up to in the aftermath of the last film which leads into this one. So Brain O'Conner, now living a life in Miami, gets a lot of money by doing plenty of street races in the area. Brain gets caught by the US Customs Service and discussing terms, agrees to help them and the FBI on a joint venture to take down a ruthless drug lord which upon doing that his record gets wiped clean and on the condition that he chooses his co-driver and the one he picks, is Roman Pearce, a childhood friend of his who is also an ex-convict. Together they work to take down this drug lord with a lot of twists and turns along the way. Now many regard this film as one of the worst of the series and after watching it, I thought it was OK. They definitely live up to the name of the film, but it feels quite generic in its story about taking down a drug lord, but as I said, only positive is that it does live up to the name and that's great. 6/10
Tokyo Drift
So here's something interesting. When this film initially came out, many believed that it was a spin-off more than just another sequel. That is until it became part of the series chronologically as it introduces the reoccurring character of Han Seoul-Oh (played by Sung Kang) who the fate of which, sets the stage for the 7th film, therefore 4-6 that followed this film, served as prequels to this film, making 7 the first official sequel to this film as it were. Also Vin Diesel appears in character in a cameo in this film making him and Paul Walker to be the only actors to appear in 6 films of the series while the others vary. But let's now talk about this very film. So we meet a 17 year old high school student called Sean Boswell (played by Lucas Black) who has a love for street racing, but his racing activities normally end up with him escaping punishment by his wealthy family. His mother gets fed up of it and sends him to live with his father who is a US navel lieutenant, in Tokyo, Japan. There he is bought into Tokyo's drift racing scene by a fellow American who goes to the same school as him called Twinkie (played by a rapper called Bow Wow). There he attempts a race, but fails to master the drifting thing that they have going on, which Han attempts to teach him throughout the course of the film as the guy Sean challenges, just so happens to have an uncle who works in a crime syndicate which he uses as leverage. I think what makes this film good, is that there is actually a story here and that I think this became the point where women started to get into the series. Unfortunately, I do find the film to be rather dull and its characters are a hit or miss for me. Some of them are great like Han, but most of them not so much. I think its because I just really don't like the villains when they act like a**holes to pretty much everyone and in reality, they are just doing it to sound intimidating when in reality, they are just being pathetic. I really hate those people and just wished that they all get what's coming to them. The other positive thing about this film is that I like the idea of doing things in Tokyo where from what I know, races are a pretty big thing there and the whole Tokyo setting makes it that more exciting and fun to watch. Its a shame that this film didn't really embrace that as much as we would want it to, but oh well. 6/10
Fast & Furious
So now we come to what many have called the absolute worst film of the series, despite being a more proper sequel to the first film with it having most of the cast from that film. Its also the first of 3 films that serve as prequels to Tokyo Drift (the first 2 films don't count as Tokyo Drift didn't exist at that point in the series). Anyway so its been 5 years since the last film and Dom now has a new crew which help him hijack some fuel tankers in the Dominican Republic. However Han (who is part of Dom's crew at this point of the series chronologically) tells Dom that one of his garages has been raided, Dom suspects that something is up and has his new crew disband and go their separate ways. Dom packs things up during the night and leaves his girlfriend Letty (played by someone who I very much want as an Expendabelle, Michelle Rodriguez) behind to protect her from harm. Three months pass and Dom is informed of Letty being murdered and goes back to LA to investigate. Meanwhile, Brian O'Conner who now works for the FBI, is tracking down a drug lord which leads him to the same guy that Dom is after and the two of them (after a little feud) choose to team up to find and bring down this drug lord who happens to love street races and may have played a part in Letty's supposed death. I think of all the films in this series, this one felt like the true real sequel to the first film as all the gang (or most of them anyway) from the first film are back and its great to actually have some story to go with the staples of the series and for the most part, it works. It may not have been the turning point that the series needed, but its still giving us our moneys worth, but I think a better title for the film is needed considering that its the 4th film and they are using the franchise name rather than slapping a 4 on there or having a subtitle underneath, but you know, I'm OK with that, just as long as people know that this is the 4th and not the 1st. 7/10
6
So the 5th film saw a turning point for the series as it removed the barrier in audience numbers and allowed more people aside from car fans to get into it and it worked. So following from the successful heist in film 5, Dom and his crew have retried using whatever money they had to get around, but as such, are still considered to be fugitives from the law. Diplomatic Security Service agent Luke Hobbs (played by WWE wrestler turned actor, Dwayne Johnson) investigate a matter to do with a former British Special Forces solider called Owen Shaw (played by Bard, Luke Evans) and his crew, one member of which just so happens to be someone who Dom once thought was dead. Hobbs tracks down Dom and with them being allies now, negotiates on how to play this out. The deal ends up having Dom and his crew tracking and taking down Shaw in exchange for full pardons so that they can all go back home to the USA and have their family full again. The crew consists of Dom, Brain, Roman, Tej, Han, Gisele (someone who appeared in film 4 and helped Brain and Dom and is also Han's love interest, played by the one who will physically play Wonder Woman, Gal Gadot) and DSS agents Hobbs and Riley (the latter is played by Gina Carano) and together, they go to find and take down Shaw, while also hoping to make their family whole again. I have to say, after the last film, I was very much looking forward to this one, and despite the predictable plot, it didn't disappoint. The dialogue is great, the acting and stunts are great if not a bit outrageous and not saying this because I actually live near to London, but I like where they chose to make this film. Fits the premise quite well and that if anything, is great and I enjoyed this film a lot. 9/10
7
So now we are at the most recent entry in the series, the first to be seen in 3D, the first I saw at the cinema, The first sequel to Tokyo Drift (finally) and for obvious reasons the last film for Paul Walker following his passing. So the crew, following the last film, have returned to their lives in the USA and hope for a peaceful life. That is until Han gets killed at the hands of Owen Shaw's brother Deckard (played by one of the Expendables, Jason Statham) and attempts to be rid of Hobbs, but in the end, only gets him hospitalised. Dom becomes aware that his sister Mia is pregnant again and he persuades her to tell Brain, but she refuses knowing that Brain would abandon Dom for his family no matter the cost (his actual family that is). A package arrives from Tokyo carrying a bomb and detonates, destroying the house, moments after Shaw kills Han. Dom goes to see Hobbs in hospital who reveals that this Shaw is a rogue special forces assassin seeking revenge on his brother. Dom then goes to meet Sean Boswell in Tokyo and after a race, he gives Dom what was found with Han's body, among of which is something that Dom has been seeking out to find for quite some time. Following Han's funeral and a fierce car battle against Shaw, Dom with the help of Frank Petty (the leader of a special ops team hired by Hobbs to help Dom and his crew, played by The Commander from Sky High, Kurt Russell), forms his crew together (or what's left of them anyway) to hunt down Shaw while also finding someone called Ramsey (played by Missandei of Game of Thrones, Nathalie Emmanuel) and taking down some sort of hacking software known as God's Eye. I enjoyed this film. It had an all star cast to go with the main cast, the roles of which were used very well, the story was great, the entire film is action packed and full of WTF moments and I just felt that it was a great film. I also liked how they handled Paul Walker's character as he passed away during filming and I liked the tribute they did for him at the end which I felt was a nice touch and totally gave him the proper goodbye that he deserved. This film I will happily call the definitive ending to what has been a good, but OK series of films, but I know for a fact that until Universal's Monsters shared universe is established that they will try and keep the series going because of it being the only trilogy that Universal have left that makes money. 9/10
So there you have it (and I did say at the beginning that Fast 5 wouldn't be part of this review as I've reviewed it already in one of my all time favourite films list). I wouldn't say its the best series of films that I have seen, but there is enough in there to call it fast and furious. Fast cars, furious competition, great characters, great stories and a great series of films that I'm sure men will enjoy more than women, but possibly both by the time you reach film 5. 9
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