The Fast and the Furious was a 1950’s Roger Corman B movie about a man charged with a murder he didn’t commit. He kidnaps a woman to aid his escape, as you would expect for a film of this type, the two fall in love. Only the title survived for the franchise that became The Fast and the Furious.
The Fast and the Furious (2001) – Legend had it that director Rob Cohen and star Paul Walker dreamed up the idea of an action movie: Donnie Brasco meets Days of Thunder. They borrowed the plot from Point Break and hired Vin Diesel in the Patrick Swayze role. The film was dumb, but fun, most importantly it exceeded box-office expectations. 
2 Fast 2 Furious (2003) – Diesel, the heart of the first film declined to return in the sequel and was replaced by Tyrese Gibson, who had previously worked with director John Singleton. The story revolved around a new car related undercover case for FBI agent Paul Walker.
The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006) – Walker and Diesel both declined to return for the third movie. Justin Lin, was hired as director and Lucas Black as the star. Vin Diesel appeared in a cameo (in exchange for the tights to the character Riddick). 
Fast & Furious (2009) – Director Justin Lin returned bringing with him Sung Kang reprising his role of Han Lue. As Han had died in the previous film, this was set earlier. After a string of flops, Vin Diesel was keen to return and convinced Paul Walker to join him. Michelle Rodriguez, and Jordana Brewster also returned from the original film. Notable for Gal Gadot’s film début. 
Fast Five (2011) – This is where the franchise started to morph into Mission Impossible, and also the highpoint of the franchise. With a plot that started life as a sequel to the Italian Job remake. As well as Diesel, Walker, Gadot, and Brewster, from the previous film, Matt Schulze from the first film returned, as did Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, and Tyrese Gibson from the second film. The first appearance in the franchise of Dwayne Johnson as Luke Hobbs. The final “Mission Impossible” heist (Tyrese Gibson even call it Mission Impossible) is possibly the highpoint of the franchise. 
Fast & Furious 6 (2013) – Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) returns from the dead, and Luke Hobbs recruits the team from the previous film to help take down Owen Shaw (Luke Evans) former SAS Major turned thief. Continuing a theam that started in the previous film, Tyrese Gibson’s character started to change from a badass, to an idiot for comic relief. MMA fighter Gina Carano also appeared, and Jason Statham makes a mid credit cameo. 
Furious 7 (2015) – After defeating Owen Shaw, the crew return home pardoned for past crimes and the franchise goes full mission impossible. Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham) tries to kill them to avenge his brother, and they have to steal a maguffin. The film took over $1.5billion, nearly double that of the previous film that was the highest earner of the franchise up to that point. The last film to feature Paul Walker who died before the films was completed. 
The Fate of the Furious (2017) – Dom is coerced cyberterrorist Cipher (Charlize Theron) into betraying his team. Both the maguffins and the action gets bigger and more silly. Another film to take over $1billion. Previous antagonists Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham) and Owen Shaw (Luke Evans) are retconned in more sympathetic roles with Helen Mirren in a cameo as their mother. Reports from set suggested Vin Diesel and Dwayne Johnson didn’t get on, results of their pissing competition have never been made public!
Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw (2019) – So this brings us up to date with the film that really should be called Fast & Furious Presents: Mission Impossible. There isn’t a single plot point in the film that hasn’t been used in Mission Impossible, most notably infecting a primary character with a doomsday virus. Forced to work together, Luke Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) and Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham) don’t like each other as played out in the previous film. The mismatched partners could have got old very quickly, fortunately Vanessa Kirby as Hattie Shaw, Deckard estranged sister is the most interesting character in the movie. Idris Elba has fun as the villain, he even introduce himself as “bad guy”. By far the silliest, of an already silly franchise. Kirby and Statham play siblings of a similar age, despite the fact their ages would be better suited to farther and daughter. I can’t say it’s a good film, if you think too much about it, it’s actually quit a poor, film, but it’s great fun to while you are a watching it, I really enjoyed it. 
So what next? Fast & Furious 9 , and 10 are scheduled for 2020, and 2021, with Justin Lin returning as director, with an “Untitled female-centered film” to follow. Vanessa Kirby seems a more likely lead than Michelle Rodriguez, or will it be a totally new cast? XX Warning, Spoilers for Hobbs & Shaw XX Idris Elba appeared to be killed at the end of Hobbs & Shaw, a near guarantee that he will appear in a future film as a good guy! The ultimate big bad of Hobbs & Shaw isn’t Elba’s Brixton Lore, but the unseen “director” of Eteon. It will be a great surprise if this character doesn’t return, at which time it will also be a surprise if it doesn’t turn out to be Cipher (Charlize Theron).
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