Post-Viewing: Why has the quality of Fast and Furious endured?

The Fast and Furious series is one of the most long-lasting modern film franchises, not to mention the only one of its kind to focus its full attention on high speed racing and stunts placed against searing hot locations. If you’ve seen the films like I have, you’ll know exactly what you’re getting when you go to see one at the cinema; it’s generally a similar premise with similar characters. It sounds an awful lot like another, far less appreciable action franchise that has raked in billions; Transformers. As some of you have seen from my review of Age of Extinction, that franchise as a whole (aside from the original) is a complete wreak, never rising above awful quality and yet being able to make enormous profits.

So what makes a loud and often dumb premise so likeable in Fast and Furious when it has become so loathsome in other franchises like Transformers? It all starts with the characters; action films with likeable characters and magnetic personalities can go a long way towards making themselves more memorable and entertaining. Whilst the characters in Transformers are often basic clichés and stereotypes that receive no kind of development whatsoever, Fast and Furious makes use of simple archetypes that are maintained over each theme. The acting and dialogue are far from Oscar worthy, but the actors in Fast and Furious all do a fine job of selling the characters and they also take them on their own individual journeys throughout the franchise.

The Fast and Furious series started off as a relatively average series which earned a reasonable amount from fans of fast cars and street racing. In the years since, the series has moved away from these basic situations to do all manners of inventive stunts and scenarios. The ever increasing budget of the series has allowed the filmmakers to go wild with creativity and with a title like Fast and Furious, there’s all kinds of things that can be done. From Fast and Furious 5 onwards, we’ve seen some really imaginative moments from the bank heist to a car airdrop and this has allowed the series to continuously thrill. Rather than recycling the same action sequences over and over again, the filmmakers always come up with a crazy new idea rather than a pointless gimmick and it’s this trait that keeps audiences coming back for more.

If the Fast and Furious series is to continue for another three films then I hope it continues to rise, rather than lower in quality; with that said, Furious 7’s financial and critical success was undoubtedly expanded by the passing and subsequent tribute to Paul Walker and the question still remains as to whether or not the budget will rise and allow for sustained creativity. On the other hand, some argue that it may be more respectful to end the series here at number 7, but of course the need for profits nearly always supersedes that choice.

(Images sourced from Flickr, via creative commons license)