In today’s age of green screen and incredible CGI effects, action movies can get a little ridiculous. This is okay in superhero and fantasy films, where characters have extraordinary abilities that allow them to survive absurd feats of strength, agility, and durability. But things become a little bit more suspicious when the stories deal with regular people doing unbelievable things. No franchise has embodied this idea more than The Fast and The Furious starring Vin Diesel. However, when the series is viewed as a whole from its beginning, it’s clear to see that this trend was inevitable.
Many would argue that’s not the case. They might say that The Fast and The Furious was never about action set pieces. Instead, it’s a series about street racing. The cars and car culture were the focus and that theme had become lost in later installments focused on crazy action scenes and vehicular warfare. But an examination of the first few films can see them laying the groundwork for what will come.
In reality, those earlier films could be classified as crime and action thrillers. It’s just that the criminal elements of the story were hidden within street racing culture. The crews and characters used street racing as a cover. They lived it and embodied it, but it wasn’t their ultimate goal. Their ultimate goal was to commit crimes. This is evident by the opening and climactic scenes in the first film, both of which feature high speed heists involving dangerous stunts. The only problem is that films need to escalate. A sequel needs to top what came before it, and so over time, the franchise reached ridiculous proportions of action. One can certainly argue the plausibility of the action became too crazy, but that’s just an inevitable consequence of the path the franchise was on; not a departure from its core.
The Fast and The Furious and its first three sequels are now streaming on Netflix.
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