[OPINION] I don't like The Fast and the Furious films

It may be sacrilege to speak ill of the beloved film franchise that supposedly defines the culture of our automotive community, but, as films, they're really not that good.

Now, I admit, I have not seen every F&F film, nor am I a qualified film critic. In fact, I don’t watch that many movies at all. But, this is the internet, so everyone’s opinion matters, right?

Anyway

With 7 movies going on 8 and raking in nearly $4 billion at the box office over 16 years, there is no denying the success of the Fast and the Furious film franchise. So, what are the films about? Well, that’s where my issue with the films start - I don’t really know what they’re about.

So, the films… uhh… feature nice cars, right? And the plot of the movies are kinda based on racing and some other stuff involving cars, I guess. But then there is the action sequences, heists, battling the villains, romance…

Basically, what I’m trying to say is that the films are generally poorly made and badly written, but we don’t notice because of the flashy action sequences and the gorgeous cars distracting us.

Sure, nothing quite distracts a petrolhead from a mediocre action film like a beautifully restomodded 1970 Plymouth Roadrunner, but when I look past the lovely cars, all I see is a cheesy action movie with over-the-top action sequences with incoherent writing and a forgettable story. Maybe it’s because I’ve haven’t watched any F&F film for quite a while, but I honestly have only vague memories of the story: Something happens, the characters drive nice cars, things explode, conflict is resolved, and the good guys go retire some place quiet, only to be brought back to action in the next film for some reason. But what I do remember clearly, are the amazing automobiles that adorn each film.

The cars and the movies simply have very little correlation with each other, especially in more recent films where there is barely any racing. My personal favourite film of the franchise, no matter how much Lucas Black’s awful acting tries to ruin it, has to be the third film, The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift. Despite the story having so little correlation with the rest of the franchise that it creates a time warp in the timeline of the movies, that film, in my opinion, did the best job of connecting the cars, racing, and the story together into a single coherent composition, simply by being the most realistic film overall, although it is still very unrealistic as a whole. This goes to show that the movies can be made better if they were simply more down-to-earth. But, of course, nothing sells more tickets at the box office than a bombastic over-the-top action movie.

And that, to me, is all the F&F film franchise is: a bunch of lacklustre action films where the characters drive nice cars.

If you’ve made it this far into the post, congratulations, you’ve pulled off an amazing feat of human endurance. You may also want to seek medical attention. Please remember, all of that was an opinion. I’d love to hear a different opinion and discussion in a civil manner. This is also my first time posting something like this, so I’ll appreciate any form of feedback.