Summary
Rewatching all theFast and Furiousmovies in release order reveals a lot about the Fast Saga, including where it all changed, and why the timeline is so confusing. TheFast and Furiousmovieshave made for one of the most successful franchises in Hollywood history, having grossed over $7 billion at the box office with 11 movies. This includes the main 10 installments of the Fast Saga andHobbs and Shaw. The series will now continue with theupcomingFast & Furious 11.
SomeFast and Furiousfilms have aged surprisingly well, whereas others remain disappointing additions to the saga. It is impossible to rewatchFast and Furiouswithout noticing how much the franchise changed after the first film, with Dom going from stealing DVDs to helping save the world.Fast and Furioustried a lot of things and course-corrected a few timesbefore eventually becoming a stable, successful franchise.
56
$714,567,285
59
$719,360,068
Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbes and Shaw
67
$760,732,926
$1,235,534,014
81
$1,511,986,364
Fast and Furious 6
71
$789,300,444
78
$629,975,898
28
$359,347,833
The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift
37
$157,794,205
$236,410,607
The Fast and the Furious
54
$206,458,372
15The Fast And The Furious Did Not Need A Sequel
Fast And Furious Didn’t Need To Be A Franchise
The Fast and the Furiousis one of those movies that did not need a sequel regardless of how well it did financially. While Walker and Diesel were shaping up to be major stars,The Fast and the Furiouswould have worked just fine as a standalone storyabout the birth of a friendship in difficult circumstances. Brian and Dom getting ready for their final race after learning how to trust each other was a perfect ending for the movie, which told a self-contained story with a clear beginning, middle, and end. Brian had made his choice, and so had Dom.
14Tyrese’s Roman Pearce Was Supposed To Be Dom’s Replacement
Roman Was Brian’s New Best Friend In 2 Fast 2 Furious
2 Fast 2 Furiouswas nowhere near as good as the first movie, but it gives us Tyrese Gibson’s Roman Pearce. Arguably the funniest character in the franchise, Roman changed a lot after his first appearance in the 2003 movie.2 Fast 2 Furiousintroduces Roman as an obvious substitute for Dominic Toretto, who was not in the film. With Diesel choosing not to return for the sequel,2 Fast 2 Furioustried to emulate the buddy cop dynamic of the first film by pairing Brian with a brand-new character. That said,Roman was different enough from Dom.
Fast & Furious: What Happened To Suki After 2 Fast 2 Furious
Devon Aoki only played Suki in 2 Fast 2 Furious before disappearing from the franchise. Why didn’t the actress ever reprise the role since 2003?
13Tokyo Drift Didn’t Even Need To Be A Fast & Furious Movie
Tokyo Drift Stands On Its Own
Tokyo Driftflopped at the box office but has since become somewhat of a cult classic among fans of the franchise, especially because it is reminiscent of an era whereFast and Furiouswas not an action blockbuster series. Still,Tokyo Driftdid not even need to be aFast and Furiousmovie. Apart from the Dominic Toretto cameo, which was only there for commercial reasons,Tokyo Driftis a truly standalone filmthat would only be incorporated into the “main”Fast and Furioustimelineyears later. It is one of the most rewatchableFast and Furiousmovies.
12Fast & Furious’ Timeline Confusion Is Hilarious In Hindsight
It Was All Because Of Han (& It Was Worth It)
Fast and Furious’ timeline is infamously known for being very confusing. However, in hindsight, it is hilarious how a relatively simple series of action films turned out to have such a confusing chronology. It all traces back to the decision to bring backSung Kang’s Han inFast & Furious(2009) after the character died inTokyo Drift. What was supposed to be just a small cameo that would bring Dom’s cameo in the third film full circle became the start ofa series of retcons meant to justify why Han kept returning despite being “dead.”Funnily enough, Han was alive.
11Fast & Furious Was Never Really About Cars (Even When It Was)
The Franchise Was Always An Action-Packed Crime Series
For years, people have debated whenFast and Furiousstopped being about cars. Having watched all the movies recently, I feel confident to say thatthe Fast Saga was never really about cars.Even the first couple of films, which did not have the massive budgets of recent installments, focused more on the action and crime aspects of the story than on the cars or the street racing scene. Brian and Dom love cars and everything about them, but from the very first movie,Fast and Furiouswas already dealing with heists and undercover missions. They only increased the scale.
Jason Statham & The Rock’s Fast & Furious Returns Make Hobbs & Shaw 2’s Status Even Stranger
The bizarre lack of Hobbs & Shaw 2 is made even stranger by Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham returning to the flagship Fast & Furious franchise.
10Dom Became A Superhero Between The First And Fourth Movies
Dominic Toretto Became A More Cartoonish Character
Fast and Furiousmay have always been an action franchise, but I cannot deny that things changed very drastically fromThe Fast and the FurioustoFast & Furious(2009). This is particularly true for Dominic Toretto, who gained superpowers between movies. Dom was though, a scary guy in the first film, but everything about him seemed plausible. From the fourth film onward, however, Dom had no problem catching an engine with one hand or driving through fire.Diesel’s portrayal of Dom also changes with time, going from the layered character from 2001 to a slightly more cartoonish version of him.
9The Rock Really Changed Fast & Furious Forever
Fast Five Set The Bar High For The Saga
Whether Dwayne Johnson savedFast and Furiousis open for debate, but the fact is that The Rock did change the saga forever. Luke Hobbs was the first villain in the Fast Saga that felt like an actual threat to Toretto and his family.Hobbs was not a crime boss orchestrating things from the shadowsor a street racing rival but rather a trained federal agent who could keep with Dom both in terms of tactics and strength. The scene in which Hobbs chased Dom through the favelas of Rio was unlike anythingFast and Furioushad ever done.
A new Hobbs spinoff movie was announced shortly after the release ofFast X.
8Fast & Furious Strangely Became One Of Hollywood’s Best Action Franchises
Fast And Furious Has Been Very Consistent
Fast and Furioushas a lot of problems, but the saga has been fascinatingly consistent for the most part. Whereas a lot of IP-based franchises failed to replicate the success of the Marvel Cinematic Universe,Fast and Furiousfound its corner of the blockbuster market early on and made the most of it. Each film felt like a natural progression from the previous one in terms of scale and budget, which was often reflected in their box office returns. Although I do miss the simpler times of the saga,mostFast and Furiousfilms are a lot of fun.
Most Fast & Furious Villain Were Either Killed Or Redeemed
Fast and Furioushad great villainsbefore Dante, especially Dwayne Johnson’s Hobbs and Jason Statham’s Shaw. The problem is that most of them were either killed off or redeemed within the next movie. It got to a point in which we could tell exactly what the next villain was going to be like and how their story was going to end.Fast and Furious’ villains were also not very different from each other– serious, grumpy people who for some reason needed to take down Toretto and his family. Momoa’s Dante Reyes was very unique, and, presumably, won’t be redeemed.
6The Justice For Han Campaign Was Justified
The Fate Of The Furious Insulted Han
I still don’t understand how Dominic Toretto could welcome Deckard Shaw into his family’s barbecue after what he did to Han. Yes, Han was not dead after all, but that was a retcon. For all intents and purposes, Han had been killed by Shaw. Even thoughStatham’s character saved Toretto’s son,The Fate of the Furiousasks us to ignore Han for a while. This is why the “Justice for Han” campaign was justified. A fan-favorite character, Han ended up returning after all inF9. He will also reunite with Gisele soon given she returned inFast X.
