Do We Really Need Another Fast And Furious Movie?
Vin Diesel fires up his Dodge Charger one more time…for better or worse!
“A war is coming to us whether we like it or not. If a war is coming, we’re gonna face it on the streets we know best” Dominic Toretto — Furious 7
Whether you like, love or loathe the Fast And Furious movie franchise, one fact is inescapable, the movies are incredibly successful with fans of all ages. The combination of high-octane adventure and incredibly bold characters make for great escapism and the notion of evading capture within the chassis of a high-performance sports car appeals to the adrenaline junkie residing in us all.
Who would have thought a vehicular franchise would arrive to capture the imaginations of so many fans that, up until the summer of 2001, had no notion of the street racing underworld save for car movies like Bullitt and Cobra that thrust the car chase phenomenon into our collective thinking. There is nothing like the adrenaline rush of a good car chase, a fact that Bullitt cemented when the legendary Steve McQueen, climbed behind the wheel of his 1968 Ford Mustang. The ten-minute sequence, was the first genuine car chase in movie history and is regarded as the best of its kind, unsurpassed in Hollywood history. Utilizing the glorious streets of San Francisco as a race track proved to be the perfect platform to accentuate the realism involved in keeping the movie grounded and only served to excite millions of race fans around the world.
The scene is now regarded as iconic. The pinnacle of Hollywood car chases.
And then, in the summer of 2001 Vin Diesel arrived upon our screens as tough street racer Dominic Toretto, a man devoted to his close circle of friends and family while also living a double life as a high speed super thief of state of the art electrical goods. He was perfectly cast as the ultimate anti-hero, the quintessential good guy pressured by his cultural standing into the age-old pursuit of financial gain. He was the perfect antagonist for the Los Angeles police department who responded by offering the perfect foil to bring him to justice in Brian O’ Connor (Paul Walker).
The movie was The Fast and the Furious:
The movie, not only excited the millions of race fans around the world, but exposed the relatively unknown society of street racing to the public domain. One of the many qualities boasted by the movie were the profound and deeply emotional characters it brought to the screen, all in need of the perfect actors to fill the roles. The characters of Dominic Toretto and Brian O’ Connor, were designed to highlight the different lifestyles of both street racer and police officer before the latter became absorbed by the very world he had been tasked with extinguishing. Having fallen in love with both the villain’s sister and the lifestyle of a Los Angeles street racer, Brian O’ Connor was forced to confront the ultimate duality of his personality and decide between his new life and his old one in the ultimate test of character. The story was not a contemporary one by any means, however it was the first of its kind to utilize the social standing of the racing underground, a culture increasing in popularity with millions of youngsters the world over.
The movie was released to an unsuspecting audience in the summer of 2001 with a budget of $38 million dollars and was an instant hit its wider audience, despite the critics condemning its content and lackluster screenplay by writers Gary Scott Thompson, Erik Bergquist and David Ayer (future director of Suicide Squad). The mainstream cinema fans did not agree however, and the movie went on to achieve a revenue of $207.3 million dollars worldwide. It’s perfect blend of heart stopping action, pulse-pounding soundtrack and fast-paced street racing proved to be a hit with not only the target audience, but with the casual viewer as well and provided a spring board to launch a franchise.
The sequel was swiftly given the go-ahead and in the summer of 2003, 2 Fast 2 Furious was unleashed upon the world however, but both Vin Diesel and director Rob Cohen contracted to Sony Pictures to film xXx, so neither were part of its narrative. Despite a financial return of $236.3 million on a budget of $76 million, the movie was slammed by the critics who accused it of being a mindless affair devoid of any real story, over reliant on the vivid and colourful Miami street scene. Paul Walker’s continued involvement was not enough to maintain viewers however, and he quickly departed before the next sequel was introduced in the summer of 2006 in the guise of Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift. The movie was slammed by the critics citing it for its lack of discernible plot and uninteresting characters which affected the revenue as a result. After a great deal of negotiation, Diesel agreed to make a cameo in the film in exchange for Universal’s ownership to the rights to the Riddick series and character, in lieu of a financial payment but it wasn’t enough to improve the film’s fortunes. However, it was considered successful enough to justify continuing the series with a fourth entry, under the condition of Vin Diesel returning to lead the cast.
Finally reunited on screen for the first time since 2001, Vin Diesel and Paul Walker returned for Fast & Furious, an action packed fourth adventure designed as a continuation of the narratives unresolved in the original’s finale. The core of cast all returned adding some much-needed gravitas to proceedings and it paid dividends with the fans who rejoiced at the prospect of a genuine sequel. Vin Diesel also became one of the producers not just for the fourth film, but the overall franchise. Upon its release, the movie earned a lucrative return pocketing $363.2 million dollars making it an overwhelming success and one of the most profitable in the series to date. The critical reaction was mixed but the revenue success could not be disputed. With the original cast, back together and a genuine story that focussed upon adding layers of depth to the characters within in it, the sequel proved to be a hit with cinematic audiences who swiftly called for another installment to continue the adventure.
Their wishes were granted…
Fast Five (2011) and Fast & Furious 6 (2013) were released in quick succession, both building upon the adventures of the core character’s as well as adding new and exciting leads for the fans to embrace. Not only did the cast change, but producers at Universal Studios implemented the departure from the street racing theme prevalent in previous films in the series, to transform the franchise into a heist action series involving high performance cars. By doing so, they hoped to attract wider audiences previously alienated by the heavy emphasis on the street racing car culture. Fast Five was regarded as a period of transition for the franchise, but cinema goers were not put off by the sudden change in direction. In fact, the revenue increased exponentially with Fast Five accumulating $626.1 million dollars at the box office and its subsequent sequel, Fast & Furious 6 earned a bounty of $788.7 million dollars.
Desperate to replicate the success of the previous installments, Furious 7 was put into production with the all-star cast returning to their successful roles but with filming nearing conclusion, a tragic accident changed the landscape of series forever. Franchise regular and bedrock of the series from its humble beginnings, Paul Walker was sadly killed in a freak car accident bringing his fourteen-year association with the franchise to a tragic end. The profound shock of his sudden loss sent reverberations around the entire production, and in the aftermath of the news, Universal Studios postponed the film.
It was an unprecedented and commendable step for a studio to set aside its pursuit of financial gain to mourn the loss of one of its most celebrated stars and a well-deserved level of praise for its candor was forthcoming, but in the most celebrated tradition of Hollywood the show had to go on. And so, after a brief period of mourning, Furious 7 injected a shot of nitrous oxide into its veins and roared back into action. In a mark of utmost respect, Paul Walker’s devoted brothers, Caleb and Cody, were utilized as stand-ins to complete his remaining scenes which had been re-written to facilitate his solemn retirement from the series.
With the movie, complete…bringing an end to a period of pain and sorrow for the entire production team, the movie was released to an expectant audience and a fan base in mourning…eager to commemorate Paul Walker’s memory. Within weeks they made their feelings clear and Furious 7 went on to attract a worldwide revenue totaling a staggering $1.516 billion dollars in box office receipts. The worldwide gate receipts alone, ensured that Furious 7 would go on to be the most lucrative entry in the series and its success would almost certainly guarantee yet another sequel, but in the aftermath of Walker’s passing the morale implications of doing so were thrust into the limelight.
Furious 7 afforded Walker the fitting farewell and symbolized the perfect conclusion to the franchise, but as is always the case, the almighty dollar signs reigns supreme in Hollywood. Whether the fans are truly invested in the series in upshot of Walker’s tragic end remains to be seen, but nevertheless on April 14th The Fate of the Furious races into theaters across the world. The film boasts a plot that has been designed to refresh the franchise and facilitate the transition into possibly yet another genre.
Check out the official trailer here:
PLOT:
With Dom and Letty on their honeymoon, Brian and Mia having retired from the game, and the rest of the team exonerated, the team has found a semblance of normal life. But when a mysterious woman seduces Dom back into a world of crime he cannot seem to escape, causing him to betray those closest to him. Faced with the ultimate betrayal, the team will face trials that will test them like never before…
With the launch of the movie’s trailer, we were treated to a taste of what lies in store and it has thrown many questions into the public forum which many have found perplexing. The trailer has revealed Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) re-entering the world of crime, either under duress or by his own accord and betraying the family values he holds dear. Seeing Toretto stand face-to-face with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s Luke Hobbs, as an enemy combatant, fully clad in black body armour and wielding a semi-automatic rifle, betrays a foray into the “SPY” genre, which is traditionally reserved for his other alter ego Xander Cage from xXx.
The lines between the franchises are beginning to blur in the aftermath of the third entry into the latter’s series, titled xXx: Return of Xander Cage which saw Diesel return as the leading man. The character is depicted as an adrenaline junkie turned secret agent, reliant upon his edge of your seat stunts that defy convention. The original movie titled xXx, offered us a new take on the James Bond spy genre with an extreme sports star assuming the role of the 007 stereotype. The latest offering into the series saw Cage, building a closely-knit team of highly trained operatives to defend against the evil terrorists threatening the safety of the world once more. And now, Dominic Toretto appears to adopting the life a secret agent akin to his xXx counterpart!
The similarities between the franchises are profound. With xXx replicating the family orientated team of Fast And Furious and Dominic Toretto adopting the traits of his xXx counterpart, we are in danger of finding ourselves in a realm where both franchises offer parallel story lines that appear as mundane as they are effortless from the producers. To cinema goers frequenting theaters at the start of the year to witness the Return of Xander Cage, all could be forgiven for thinking they were watching a replication of the Fast and the Furious franchise. The similarities were frightening and were only compounded at the movies finale when the team of super spies were branded as fugitives and hunted by the powers that be.
Sound familiar?
Now to be clear, I am not a detractor of both Fast and the Furious and xXx franchises. In fact, I was one of the first in line to see the original xXx upon its release in 2002 and was thrilled at the prospect of Vin Diesel starring in a James Bond type action adventure. Sadly, the film did not live up to expectation and betrayed a lack of a genuine screenplay relying instead, upon a succession of over the top stunts and explosions that left many a cinema lover lukewarm to the character. However, upon my first screening of the original Fast and the Furious, I was hooked. The perfect balance of action, music and character depth enveloped within the faced paced and dangerous life of a Los Angeles street racer was a joy to behold. Both Vin Diesel and Paul Walker were perfectly cast and only served to accentuate the movies brilliance which captivated my imagination. Even as an adult, the movie holds a special place in my thinking, a feeling that was perpetuated when the fourth entry was released and built upon the foundations of the revered originator.
The notion that the franchise is set to continue without one of the most intricate characters is a major concern for me personally, and I would be lying if I suggested I was wholeheartedly invested in the eighth installment. I personally feel that the series should have retired with Paul Walker’s passing. His breath-taking farewell in the finale of Furious 7 seemed like the opportune time for the saga to run its course but, we are powerless against the power of the studio. We can only hope that The Fate of the Furious will be a just and worthy sequel to a turbo charged franchise, and not an empty abuse of the characters we all know and love.
But only time will tell.
Until then, I will see you along the last quarter mile. Whether fast, furious or failure, I have no doubt Vin Diesel will do his utmost to steer us to a path of nitrous oxide induced awesomeness.
Ride or Die!
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