For years, Hollywood has thrived off of franchises filling movie theatres with fans and audiences in a way to entertain the masses and boost the box office. Of all the franchises, from superhero flicks to doomed theme parks, one seems to have a longer life span than most, The Fast & The Furious.
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Full of insane action sequences and Vin Diesel mumble growling about family, the fast franchise has become a powerhouse of a series over the years, gaining enormous budgets and grossing a billion dollars. Despite the high income though, the Fast franchise is definitely one series that doesn’t make a lot of sense, even as the films push the boundaries of being fast and furious.
Letty’s Survival
![Letty crawling from wreckage](https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Lettys-Survival.jpg)
It’s typical in the world of film for a character to die and then return to life. Time again, popular characters have presumably bit the big one and then risen from the grave for one reason for another. Of course, sometimes, it’s not fully explained.
When Dom’s girlfriend Letty died in a car crash, fans thought that would be the end. However, when he reappeared in the sixth film, many fans were left confused. Simply put, the explanation behind her survival of a fiery crash wasn’t explained that well.
Timeline
When establishing a film series, a clear timeline is in order to make the franchise work. Usually, the events of a series will happen one after the other with the story proceeding naturally. Sometimes, however, certain series take different approaches to establishing a timeline.
While the FF series begins with one and two, the series takes an odd turn with the third film, having the setting be after the events of four, five, and six, creating an odd prequel series that doesn’t connect as well as the other films.
Physics
In the world of film, some things aren’t always going to make sense. Sometimes, certain things, such as a guy surviving a ten-story drop, don’t have to make sense. Yet, if there’s no sense of realism anywhere else in the film or series, it can raise some eyebrows.
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It goes without saying that the Fast & Furious (hereinafter FF) series has some of the craziest and stupidest stunts. From jumping a submarine to flying between buildings in a car, FF defies the laws of physics every time with very little realism to ground it.
Street Racers To Government Agents
Without a doubt, Fast & Furious has probably one of the biggest role reversal in any series. In the beginning, the franchise starts simply enough, with a cop infiltrating a street racing gang. Then the gang becomes bank robbers pulling off the typical one last job and then government agents.
The sudden switch in the roles, not to mention the bizarre increase of action sequences and gravity-defying stunts really pushed FF to its limit. They even recently introduced superhumans a world-saving plot in a spinoff, boggling the viewer’s mind even more than they’d already been.
The Fate Of The Furious
Titles mean everything to a film. A good title can draw viewers in, intrigue them to seek the meaning behind the title that lies in the movie, and represent the meaning of the film.
When the eighth film in the high octane series was announced to be called Fate Of The Furious, it left many fans a tad bit confused. From the moment the film started to long after the credits rolled, many were left wondering what the fate of the furious was and didn’t get much of an answer.
Lifespan
Any film can become a series. The only question is, should they become a franchise. Sometimes, movies can go past their expiration date, with the occasional chance of a franchise becoming so bad it’s actually good but many tend to overstay their welcome far after they should have gotten out.
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At the moment, FF has done eight films in the original series, one spinoff, a tv show, and still has two sequels on the way. How the series has stayed alive for nearly eleven films and a series is quite the mystery, whether it be box office gross or maybe a deal with the devil that has kept the series alive despite having many chances to end the series.
Character Changes
In the story creation game, one of the things to keep in mind is keeping the character change constant. Good character development can elevate a film and put it above others. The right about development can work wonders for any film.
That being said, the wrong amount of character change can muddy a film. Whether it be Jason Statham becoming an anti-hero or Dom going bad, the character changes, although some explained later one, can feel bizarre and out of place in most and any film series.
Relationships
Throughout most movies, every character has a relationship with someone else. From being a love interest to long lost siblings popping out the blue, relationships can add that necessary layer of emotion to any film and make them even better than they already were.
With FF, the relations seem to come and go at an unusual rate. One minute, someone’s in love with someone else then the next, the character has a surprise baby. Not to mention the series has at least two surprise brothers popping up out of nowhere.
Plot Twists
Done correctly, a plot twist can benefit a movie tenfold. The right twist or turn of the story can add to the tension, suspense, or simply create a new environment for the audience. Of course, this is only if the twist is done right and makes sense.
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A plot twist in the land of FF tends to be a little less than realistic like it’s physics. From villains switching allegiances to unnecessary character revivals or reveals, and not to mention the times that major characters have died throughout the series, the plot twists simply don’t benefit the film and instead drag it down.
Quality
The worse fate that any film can suffer from is a drop in quality. If a series starts strong, no one wants the quality to fade for no reason, with dumb decisions and strange choices causing random dips in quality and content.
The quality switch in FF is just as strange and has divided fans, with many believing it should stop while others think it should keep going. From mediocre beginnings to terrible sequels to finding new life and creating a touching tribute to Paul Walker to falling short of the mark again, the FF series quality seems to rise and fall constantly with no real explanation.
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