When The Fast And The Furious hit screens on June 22, 2001, there was little indication it would kick off an industry-rocking franchise that would bring in billions at the box office and would still be going strong 20 years later.
That first film – which introduced Vin Diesel's Dominic Toretto, a street racer criminal who lives by a strict code of honor, and Paul Walker's Brian O'Conner, a cop with a taste for street racing who goes undercover to infiltrate Dom's crew – is now quaint compared to what would come down the line: supersized over-the-top stunts, hundreds of crashed cars and a series that would go on to employ half of Hollywood.
So their scripts haven't won any Oscars, and that's not changing anytime soon.
But the Fast series never aspired to the level of fine art; these are movies meant to be seen on the big screen, devoured along with a tub of popcorn and cast aside until the next one comes along. As the latest instalment is showing at Malaysian cinemas, let's take a look back at the Fast series, ranked in order from first to worst. Buckle up, it's quite a ride.
1. Furious 7 (2015)
This is the one where it all comes together. The stunts are bonkers: there's a sequence where the team (the core "Fast" team is Diesel's Dom, Walker's Brian, Tyrese Gibson's Roman Pearce, Ludacris' Tej and Michelle Rodriguez' Letty) skydives in their cars, and another where a car flies through the glass windows of one skyscraper to another, twice.
The story finds the gang caught up in a James Bond-style spy plot to save the world. And the closing moments, where the characters react to the departure of Paul Walker's character (following Walker's death in 2013) are the closest the Fast movies ever come to poignancy.
Director James Wan wins the race by bringing a thorough understanding of the dynamics of the Fast universe, upping the ante with wild stunts and new characters, and keeping the vibe spirited and fun throughout.
That its closing moments, with Walker's character literally riding off into the sunset, land with a quiet grace shows that there is not only a revving engine but a beating heart at the center of this movie universe.
Words of wisdom: "They say an open road makes you think about where you've been, where you're going." Just Dom getting philosophical about long drives, no big deal.
Family talk: "Everyone's looking for the thrill," Dom says. "But what's real is family."
2. Fast Five (2011)
The one that changes everything. The franchise was beginning to run on fumes following 2009's Fast & Furious, but Fast Five gives it a tune-up by adding Dwayne Johnson as hyper-macho DSS agent Luke Hobbs, a heist plot straight out of Mission: Impossible and an overall tone of breezy, high-style fun.
An early sequence involving a moving train, a speeding car and a freefall into a ravine is the franchise's high point for breathtaking action, and shows the ways director Justin Lin is willing to sacrifice reality for the sake of pure fantasy to take the franchise to the next level.
And the resurrection of 2 Fast's Roman Pearce (Tyrese, patron saint of Fast comedy) and Tej Parker (Ludacris) adds a comic element that was sorely missing from the Fast & Furious family of films.
All in all, a major upgrade; without Fast Five, the series doesn't make it to today.
Words of wisdom: "This just went from mission impossible to mission in-freaking-sanity!" Tyrese's Roman Pearce speaks for both the in-movie mission and the series as a whole.
Family talk: "Money will come and go, we know that. The most important thing in life will always be the people in this room, right here, right now. Salud mi familia." Dom's toast to his crew sums up his worldview.
3. Fast & Furious 6 (2013)
Unfolding just a week after the events of Fast Five, this one begins with a montage of previous Fast movies over the opening credits and is put in motion when Michelle Rodriguez's character returns from the dead and shoots Dom in the chest. (That ain't family!)
It turns out her character is suffering from amnesia, the first sign of the Fast movies using an overt soap opera storytelling device, but the action pops, the cast is in tip-top shape and director Justin Lin keeps everything running on all cylinders.
While he's usually used for laughs, Tyrese gets his chance to shine during the film's action centerpiece, when he leaps from one speeding car to another while being chased down a long stretch of road by a hulking, speeding tank.
After that, the film's climax, which takes place on a never-ending airplane runway, feels like overkill.
Words of wisdom: "You know what they say where we're from?" Dom asks. "Show me how you drive, I'll show you who you are." That's deep, man.
Family talk: After he's wronged by Letty, Dom waxes on the concept of family. "You don't turn your back on family," he says, "even when they do."
4. The Fast And The Furious (2001)
Compared to what would follow, it's practically a quiet character study, or at the very least, a less successful riff on Point Break.
Walker's undercover agent is hot on Toretto's tail because Toretto is in the business of boosting DVD players, which makes him about as threatening as a member of Best Buy's Geek Squad.
Nonetheless, the bones of the franchise are here, in the way that O'Conner is sucked into Toretto's world because of their shared love of fast cars, nitrous oxide boosts and living life on the edge.
Director Rob Cohen renders the whole thing rather humorless, but he does stage an audacious climax on the highway in the California desert that sets a high bar for what will follow in the series.
Still, if Timothy Olyphant would have gotten the lead role over Vin Diesel, as was originally envisioned, we might not be sitting here and having this discussion today. Or Olyphant's career would have looked very different.
Words of wisdom: "I live my life a quarter mile at a time," Dom says. "Nothing else matters."
Family talk: Scant mentions of family, never by Dom, but the word does come up several times in the script.
5. Fast & Furious (2009)
A hard reboot after the sharp left turns of 2 Fast and Tokyo Drift, this 2009 feature brings back Diesel's Dom and Walker's Brian and picks up five years after the 2001 film left off.
Dom and Brian are both after the same man but for different reasons, but that's enough for them to team up and head south of the border to take down a drug lord (and to try to get to the bottom of the mysterious murder of Letty, Dom's ride or die).
It's a bit stiff and features more than one sequence where cars speed through mines inside a mountain, which even by "Fast" logic is a stretch.
At the end, Dom is sentenced to prison, setting up the breakout that opens Fast Five.
At least it's clear director Justin Lin had a plan and knew where he wanted to take the series, but at best, Fast & Furious is a place holder.
It also opens up a weird time loop in the continuity of the Fast series, since Sung Kang's supercool Han – who was killed in Tokyo Drift – is back among the living.
Words of wisdom: Dom schools Brian on American auto engineering: "Muscle beats import every time," he says. "Every time!"
Family talk: Dom's – and the series' – views on family are beginning to take hold, and Dom gives a blessing of "food, family and friendship."
6. The Fate Of The Furious (2017)
The death of Paul Walker left a void in the franchise that not even a giant submarine could fill, although The Fate Of The Furious tries.
A joyless Charlize Theron plays a superhacker named Cipher who wears her hair in spring break cornrows and turns Dom Toretto to the dark side by blackmailing him with the son he didn't know he had. (Family!)
The chemistry is off from the starting line – even Tyrese's punchlines don't land like they usually do – and director F. Gary Gray relies heavily on green screens and visual effects that don't look as smooth as what we're accustomed in the Fast universe.
A climactic chase along a frozen Russian lake while the characters try to outrun a nuclear submarine is the first time a Fast movie feels like it's running out of ideas.
At least Helen Mirren, who joins the cast as Statham's character's mother, seems to be having fun.
Words of wisdom: Dom threatens Cipher by telling her, "the problem with putting a foot on a tiger's neck is you can never let up." Can't argue there.
Family talk: Cipher asks Dom what the best thing in his life is, and to no one's surprise, Dom's one word answer is "cheese." (Just kidding, it's "family," of course.)
7. The Fast And The Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006)
Forget everything you know about the "Fast" films because we're now in Tokyo, where Arizona high schooler Sean Boswell (Lucas Black) is sent to live with his father after his latest bout with illegal street racing.
He immediately finds himself entangled in Tokyo's underground racing scene, where drifting – a real life version of a Mario Kart powerslide, a kind of floating turn while speeding forward – is the hottest thing on the streets.
OK, a couple of things: Tokyo Drift – which is structured as a modern Western, and even builds to a loser-leaves-town race down a winding mountain road – importantly brought director Justin Lin into the series, and he'd stick around for three more movies (he also returns for F9).
It also introduces Sung Kang's Han, who despite his death in the movie, keeps coming back around (he also returns for F9).
There's also a great DJ Shadow song over the opening credits, and Diesel's Dom Toretto shows up in the final moments to bring some continuity to the proceedings. But not a whole lot else here matters.
Words of wisdom: After losing an automobile but learning about Sean's character in the process, Han reasons the transaction was well worth it. "One car in exchange for knowing what a man is made of," he says. "that's a price I can live with."
Family talk: Before Dom is seen on screen, Twinkie says he knows a guy who wants to race Sean. "Said he knew Han," Twinkie says. "Said he was" – wait for it – "family."
8. 2 Fast 2 Furious (2003)
Vin Diesel is nowhere to be seen, nor is Paul Walker's barber.
So Brian O'Conner shows up in Miami's street racing scene, where his frosted boy band locks somehow don't get him immediately tossed out on his rear end, and he teams up with his childhood pal from Barstow, Roman Pearce (Tyrese Gibson, welcome!), to take down a local drug lord (Cole Hauser).
The self-serious tone of the first film is broken up by Tyrese, who provides needed comic relief, and somehow didn't go on to a career of comedy roles outside of the Fast series.
Director John Singleton shoots some cool low angle frames but he can't work around Walker's unconvincing line readings where he calls Tyrese's character "cuz", and his big action scene involves dozens (hundreds?) of cars just kind of showing up and driving around.
Hauser's drug lord would barely cut it on an episode of Miami Vice, but at least Ludacris is brought into the fold here as Tej, a man about town who knows how to get things done and winds up becoming an integral part of the Fast family going forward.
Words of wisdom: "That's the Brian O'Conner school of driving right there!" O'Conner says after showing off his skills behind the wheel, and had Diesel not returned to the series, his character's fate may have been opening up said driving school.
Family talk: Notably, no Dom, no family talk. Makes sense.
9. Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw (2019)
This spinoff entry – which follows Dwayne Johnson's Agent Hobbs and Jason Statham's Deckard Shaw – is a pure groaner, a mismatched action buddy comedy that takes two characters who were originally total badasses and reduces them to bickering cartoons.
Along with Shaw's sister, played by Vanessa Kirby, the pair reluctantly teams up to take on a bio-engineered cyberwarrior played by Idris Elba, who literally introduces himself on screen as "Bad Guy".
That's the level of wit we're dealing with here. The comedy never really works and the action shows there's a huge difference between good ridiculous and bad ridiculous. Hobbs & Shaw is furiously ridiculous.
Words of wisdom: Between all the bickering there's not much room to breathe, but Hobbs does manage to accurately describe himself when he says, "I'm what you call an ice cold can of whup-a**."
Family talk: Shaw explains, "we're the Shaw family, and we never, never, never give up." Judging by these results, maybe they should. – Detroit News/Tribune News Service
Fast & Furious 9 is showing at cinemas nationwide.
Already a subscriber? Log in
Get 20% OFF The Star Digital Access
Cancel anytime. Ad-free. Unlimited access with perks.
