For a long time, I assumed the Fast & Furious franchise were beneath me. The movies appeared to be nothing more than a series of vapid car commercials and, not being much of a car guy, I wasn't interested. But during the pandemic, I got pressured into watching the first one and really enjoyed it.
Before I knew it, I’d watched every installment and couldn’t wait for the next one. That's the power of family. Including the Hobbs & Shaw spinoff movie, there have been 11 Fast & Furious films to date, with a 12th and final one is on the way.
While all of them have their moments, Fast Five, still remains the best for the way it repositioned the franchise, used all the best characters (including Paul Walker), and leaned on largely practical effects to take you along for the ride. Fast Five has been streaming on Netflix all summer, but as of Nov. 1 it will drive off into the sunset. So there's never been a better time to revisit this modern action classic.
Before Fast Five, the Fast & Furious movies were all about street racing. Vin Diesel’s Dominic Toretto was an illegal street racer and the other characters were his friends, family, and rivals. Paul Walker began as an LAPD officer who’d gone undercover to infiltrate the illegal streetracing scene.
But then Walker’s character, Brian O'Conner, realized this street racing thing was pretty cool, and he fell in love with Dom’s sister, Mia (Jordana Brewster). So he becomes a street racer himself. (Brian later becomes an FBI agent, then goes bad again. Fast Five picks up after that second time.) Fast Five was the first movie in the franchise not to focus on street racing.
Instead, it’s a heist where Dominic and Brian, along with a full crew, plot to steal $100 million from a corrupt businessman so that they can start new lives. Meanwhile, as they’re hiding out in Rio de Janeiro (which is where most of the movie takes place), Dom, Brian, Mia and the others are being pursued by American DSS Agents for the murder of some DEA agents (which they were framed for by the businessman they’re plotting to steal from). Before the big heist takes place, those DSS agents, lead by Luke Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson), capture Dom, Brian and a couple of other crew members.
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