Why does 'Fast & Furious' become increasingly silly and still make money?

Over more than 2 decades with 10 films, the blockbuster Fast & Furious franchise has been criticized countless times as increasingly “surreal”, “defying the laws of physics” and silly. So why is it still one of Hollywood’s most popular “franchises”, with a total revenue value of more than 6 billion USD?

Fast X – the 10th film in the Fast & Furious series was released to global audiences last week. The film currently holds the No. 1 position at the box office in 84 countries outside North America with revenue of 251.4 million USD, becoming the film with the largest opening revenue in the international market from the beginning of the year until now. Globally, the film achieved a total revenue of 320 million USD.

Fast X recorded impressive opening revenue

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It’s easy to see that Fast & Furious has never lost its popularity with the audience even though this brand has been maintained for more than 2 decades, with 10 films. Worth mentioning, the quality of Fast & Furious is always something that causes serious division, some people love it, others criticize it severely. The film always achieves “huge” revenue despite being judged to have a stupid, chaotic and increasingly illogical script. There are reasons why the story of Dom Toretto and his speedy family always excites audiences in theaters.

‘Unique’ color

In 2000, journalist Ken Li investigated the underground racing scene in New York and published the article Racer X in Vibe magazine . It became the inspiration for Universal to create the billion-dollar Fast & Furious franchise . The first part was only invested with the budget of a B-class movie of 38 million USD, with quite mediocre effects. However, with a unique exploitation angle and a simple plot that hits the entertainment needs of the mass audience, Fast & Furious earned 144.5 million USD in North America and 207.2 million USD worldwide. . This box office number was impressive in 2001.

The Fast & Furious brand has been maintained for more than 20 years with 10 films

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After a brilliant start, Universal boldly invested in sequels. Fast & Furious follows a simple action model, revolving around people who are outside the law but still have a “heroic” aura thanks to their noble spirit and knowing how to fight for what is right. Fast & Furious ‘s specialties are fast racing scenes, a series of action scenes, explosions, and eye-catching fights. The film reeks of masculinity, hitting hard on men’s passion for adventure: big cars, violence, fighting and of course hot girls.

Epic racing scenes, blood and street culture are the specialties of Fast & Furious

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The large motorbikes and cars that appear in the movie make the “car addict” community fascinated

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Usually, action film series often fall into a state of “drowning” after the “triology”. To avoid falling into this situation, the team “in charge” of Fast & Furious has had bold directions for this film brand. From part 4 (released in 2004), Fast & Furious brought back the main cast including Paul Walker, Vin Diesel , Jordana Brewster, Michelle Rodriguez and gave birth to the concept of “Fast Family”, establishing the value of friendship. which is the red thread for all the following films. At the same time, fun, strange, and adrenaline-stimulating criteria are brought to the fore, logic can be ignored. Directors can therefore freely adapt unbelievable, even stupid, action scenes as long as they are unique and entertaining. This entertainment supremacist turn brings Fast & Furious to a larger audience.

Entertainment does not require the use of the brain

Fast & Furious ‘s physics-defying action moments give viewers an experience that will leave their jaws agape. The “fun” in the film’s action scenes and application of special effects technology has been upgraded over time. In addition, the story’s setting has also been greatly expanded, no longer limited to Los Angeles but “expanded” to Mexico, Tokyo, Rio de Jainero, London… Therefore, the audience also feels like they can travel. schedule with Dom family members.

The chase on ice and snow is absurd but still brings excitement to the audience

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It is estimated that more than 12,000 cars were used in all 10 films. About 2,500 cars were destroyed during the making of the film, which means that every 49 seconds in the film, a car will be completely destroyed. Towards the end, the level of madness in Fast & Furious ‘s action scenes becomes more “magical”, from towing cars into the air, dragging bank safes on the highway, racing against time bombs. plowing into Rome… Moreover, participating in the war not only included cars but also containers, tanks, and helicopters. and nuclear submarines.

Dom Toretto’s “darling car” in Fast X

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An action scene that defies the laws of Fast & Furious physics

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Every Fast & Furious part is released, the audience knows clearly what they are paying to buy tickets to enjoy. The stresses of everyday life will be relieved through a fiery racetrack, shiny cars that are magically “tuned” to cause excitement, chases, explosions, car flips… After a while of toying with each other, the bad guys punished, or “tamed” to become friends and comrades. What remains at the end of the film are always warm family reunion moments. Your favorite characters, after falling into life and death tragedy, can still be revived spectacularly in the next part.

It’s a pleasant, low-risk entertainment experience. Once coming to Fast & Furious, the audience already knows clearly that they should not require sophistication in story logic or seek contemplation. So no matter how silly it is, as long as Dom Toretto is still alive and the “monster drivers” are still running on the track, the audience will still continue to watch Fast & Furious.

‘Huge’ star cast

Fast & Furious contributed to making the names of Paul Walker, Vin Diesel, Jordana Brewster, and Michelle Rodriguez into stars. However, when creating a reputation, this brand is also the place that “seduces” many other A-list Hollywood stars to join. These include: Hellen Mirren, Charlize Theron, Jason Statham, Gal Gadot, “The Rock” Dwayne Johnson, John Cena, Brie Larson, Jason Momoa…

The main cast of F9

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These are the faces that when their names are simply printed on a poster, the public will rush to see the movie without knowing what the movie is or what the content is. No need for a very profound role, the above stars just need to stand in the frame to shine thanks to their outstanding beauty. Through each film, Fast & Furious also takes great pains to recruit new multi-ethnic actors. This not only brings a new flavor to the film, but also helps Fast & Furious conquer the hearts of audiences around the world.

The multi-ethnic cast creates the spirit of ” Fast & Furious is home”.

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Michelle Rodriguez’s character Letty is admired by many people

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Another bright spot in Fast & Furious is that it has a positive transformation, from a masculine film gradually moving towards celebrating feminism. Unlike other simple action movies that like to put female characters in a weak position and in need of rescue, this brand emphasizes women’s personality and ability to control the game. The film brings women into the “driving game”, turning hot women into fierce racers, fighting as coolly as men.

‘Drama’ from movies to real life

Throughout more than 20 years of brand development, the characters in Fast & Furious have experienced many challenging milestones, with harmony, conflict, and even life and death. In real life, the film’s cast also experienced many similar ups and downs. That similarity creates media appeal for the film. Because the public always has something to remind them about Fast & Furious.

Paul Walker and Vin Diesel in real life are as close as siblings

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The core cast of Fast & Furious have known each other since they were unknown actors. They worked side by side on the big screen and at the same time became really close friends in real life. This was evident after Paul Walker unfortunately passed away in a car accident. After Paul passed away, Diesel still regularly took care of Paul’s daughter, Meadow Walker, as her godfather. In 2015, Diesel named his newborn daughter Pauline, as a way to remember his untimely friend. The death of Paul Walker, the love and treatment that the film crew and actors gave him, brought Fast & Furious one step closer to a legend.

In addition to the close bond, “drama” revolving around conflicts between actors or between actors and the studio is also a topic of public interest. Both Vin Diesel, Paul Walker and Michelle Rodriguez had times when they were dissatisfied with the salary that Universal paid them to continue appearing in Fast & Furious . Michelle Rodriguez in particular even considered withdrawing from the series because she was not satisfied with the script’s cliché description of her character. However, they all reached an agreement with the studio later and continued to stick together.

John Cena and Charlize Theron are two of the many A-list stars who have appeared in Fast & Furious

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The most famous conflict is the conflict between Vin Diesel and Dwayne Johnson. Vin Diesel and Dwayne Johnson began working together in Fast Five, released in 2011. After a period of working well together, on August 8, 2016, The Rock suddenly took to Instagram to hint at some of his male co-stars. Unprofessional attitude on set. According to side rumors, the disagreement between Dwayne Johnson and Vin Diesel has been brewing for a long time and exploded violently on the set of Furious 7 (2015). Fast & Furious 8 is the last film that Dwayne Johnson participated in.