The Fast and the Furious – Trilogies?

I have never believed in the idea of a guilty pleasure, you either like something or you don’t, and if you like something tell people that you like it and why.  That said I do sometimes enjoy films that I know aren’t very good.  The Fast and the Furious is a series that has certainly had its ups and downs with the highpoint probably being Fast Five (2011).

I recently recommended Furious 7 to someone who likes dumb action movies, only to discover he had not seen any of the previous films.  He asked which of the previous films he should watch before seeing the latest and possibly final outing.  My suggestion;  you ideally need to see Fast & Furious 6 to understand the motivation of Furious 7. On reflection, as already mentioned  Fast Five is the best film, and sets up Fast & Furious 6.  This is when I came to the concussion that the series forms two distinct trilogies.

Brian’s Trilogy

The Fast and the Furious (2001): A rehash of the plot of Point Break, introduces the characters and has some good action scenes.  The plot centres around illegal street racing and vehicular heists. Brian O’Conner (Paul Walker) is an undercover police officer and Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) his prime suspect, basically the Keanu Reeves and Patrick Swayze characters from Point Break.  The relationships are complicated as Brian falls for  Mia Toretto (Jordana Brewster) Dominic’s sister.

2 Fast 2 Furious (2003): the departure of the biggest star of the series Vin Diesel leaving Paul Walker to carry the story on his own.  The film introduced Tyrese Gibson possibly intended as a replacement for Diesel, a character has gone through a metamorphic change and in the later films became a buffoon offering little more than comic relief.  After being on the run since the end of the first film the plot sees Brian O’Conner, forced to return to the right side of the law to bring down a drug lord.

Fast & Furious (2009) aka Fast & Furious 4: The return of the original cast. Brian is now working for the FBI, his and Dominic Toretto’s paths soon cross following the death of Letty Ortiz (Michelle Rodriguez), Toretto’s girlfriend from the first film.

Dominic’s Trilogy

Fast Five (2011) aka Fast & Furious 5 or Fast & Furious 5: Rio Heist: Picking up after the events of Fast & Furious, Mia and Brian lead an assault on the bus transporting Dominic to prison.  The convoluted plot of the events that follow include the introduction of U.S. DSS agent Luke Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) and a audacious robbery in Rio.   It has been suggested that the plot comes from an unused script for a sequel to The Italian Job (2003).  As mentioned, probably the best of the series.

Fast & Furious 6 (2013) aka Furious 6 or Fast Six: Letty returns from the dead and Hobbs enlists Toretto and his “family” to bring down criminal Owen Shaw (Luke Evans).  As the budget goes up, the stunts get bigger and more silly.

Furious 7 (2015) aka Fast & Furious 7: Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham, the brother of Owen Shaw is out for revenge following events of the previous film.  The story had to be reworked to work around the untimely death of star Paul Walker.  The stunts or more outrageous than ever but are pure fun.  If it is the final film in the series it is a fitting conclusion.

This leaves The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006), although referred to in other movies this film can stand on its own and the other six films can exist without it.  An American high school student discovers drift racing when he is forced to like with his farther in Tokyo to avoid jail.  The film looks good and the racing is well shot but bad acting is terrible particularly from leading man Sean Boswell (Lucas Black).  Look out for martial arts legend Sonny Chiba as a Yakuza boss.  If you want to see a film about drift racing check out the Japanese movie Initial D – Drift Racer (2005). 

If you haven’t already seen them, it is worth a look for fans of car movies and action movies.  My one huge reservation is the excessive destruction of classic cars.

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