How Fast & Furious 10 Hints The Franchise Should Have Ended A Few Years Ago

On May 18, the world premiere of Fast and Furious 10 took place. The penultimate part of one of the most popular franchises of our time explains why it needs to be completed as quickly as possible.

The tenth part was directed by Louis Leterrier. First of all, he is known as the author of two parts of the trilogy "The Transporter" and "The Incredible Hulk". The script was written by Justin Lin (director of five and writer of one part), Zach Dean (Future War) and Dan Mazo (Wrath of the Titans).

Starring the same Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Ludacris, Charlize Theron, Song Kang and other members of the "Family". The main new face is Jason Momoa, who plays the villain.

The plot of the tenth part is a continuation of the events of the fifth "Fast and the Furious". Then Dominic Toretto and his team robbed the Brazilian corrupt Reis. However, years later, it was revealed that Reis had a mentally ill son, Dante. For ten years, Dante followed Torreto and waited for the moment to take revenge on him. Dante lures the team into a trap, forcing the family members to split up for a while. Toretto understands that if he does not destroy the villain, he will lose his son.

Strange structure pisses me off

From about the twentieth minute, Fast and Furious 10 is divided into several separate films. Dominic Toretto is trying to get to Dante, part of his team is traveling around Europe for no reason, Letty wants to escape from prison, and Jacob is guarding Dominic's son. Such stratification allows you to twist the timing to the maximum. The characters seem to be moving towards one point, but each individual storyline is so slow that sometimes you forget what they are doing at all.

The biggest failure is the line of the Toretto team. Several people are constantly arguing and are going to do something. In the middle of the journey, you no longer remember what they wanted at all, and by the end it turns out that it doesn’t matter.

The best way to watch Fast & Furious is to forget what happened 10 minutes ago, then there will be fewer questions.

But the real structure of the film is annoying already towards the end. It becomes clear why such a slow pace of the story was needed - just so that there was something to shoot the eleventh part about.

The writers didn't care about logic.

The past parts of Fast and the Furious taught that some elements would be inexplicable (super hackers and super secret services especially stood out). At the same time, the internal logic was preserved - it was clear what would lead to what consequences. But now she, too, has vanished. Fast & Furious 10 is a collection of scenes that don't always connect. If you are shown a garage with cars and offered to take any, and you choose a plane (which is not in the garage), then you are the hero of Fast and the Furious.

Something similar happens with movement. Are you in the US but need to be in Italy because your friends are going to be attacked right now? No problem, you'll be in time for the start of the chase.

In one of the scenes, John Cena says that in order to break away from the pursuers, you must first let them get on your trail. No one knew where he was, so he looked into the camera at the airport. For what? To have a spectacular scene on the plane. Sina is not a fool, so he checked in a small aircraft, with which you can evacuate in case of an attack. As a result, the viewer gets five minutes of absurdity bordering on schizophrenia.

Forgot to come up with funny jokes

It seems that the tenth "Fast and the Furious" is the most unfunny in the history of the franchise. During the screening, there was only one moment when a couple of viewers in the cinema room let out a light laugh. At the same time, a funny joke was taken from the scene after the credits of the ninth part. The only funny moment is the replay.

But the film explains what the writers think is funny: Jason Momoa's stupid pigtail, John Cena's old pop music in the car, and stupid Tej. Very stupid. Most recently, Guardians of the Galaxy: Part 3 came out, where there is a very similar hero Drax - he is also very stupid, but his lines are at least a little funny. And Tej does not understand how money works, behaves like a child and considers himself the leader of the team.

It is even surprising that "Fast and the Furious" is completely devoid of self-irony. Last year's "Gray Man" winked at the viewer every minute, as if informing that such a large-scale and stupid action movie should not be taken seriously. Here everything is the same as before: “family”, children, love, suffering. And in the pauses between sad remarks, you can kick a round bomb with a car that rolls towards the Vatican, or hit cars with a helicopter tied to a side door. Of course, there is no time for jokes.

Spectacular spectacle can not wait

For the previous 10 films (9 parts of "Fast and the Furious" plus spin-offs), the scriptwriters taught that heroes do not die. In each part there is a dramatic moment when an important character dies, everyone is sad, but after a movie (or a couple), he unexpectedly resurrects. Needless to say, this is a cheap move (Fast and the Furious is an encyclopedia of cheap moves), it just looks unbearable if repeated constantly. On the screen, and so there is no drama, but the authors destroy its rudiments. The new "Fast and the Furious" again flirts with the resurrection and return of heroes (we can do without spoilers).

Because of this, chases suffer. Endless resurrections of heroes destroy all the drama and danger of action scenes. It's just impossible to believe that someone can die. There are spectacular chases in the film, but none of them looks original, which is quite logical - already the eleventh part, there is no time for inventions.

Something broke not only in entertainment. When Fast & Furious was reformatted into a fantasy action movie (parts 4-5), the wild moments looked funny. The writers threw out logic, common sense and the laws of gravity so that Vin Diesel and the team blew up enemies around the world, including in space (the ninth part), and this impudence looked great. It turned out to be a concentrated stupid action movie with a ridiculous plot, over which one could be ironic, and a couple of good characters added humor and a little life to the films.

And Fast and Furious 10 pretends that what is happening on the screen should really touch the viewer. You flew into space in the last part (by car), what kind of drama?

Of course, the new "Fast and the Furious" has bad music. This is not a discovery, the franchise has been doing badly with soundtracks for many years, starting with parts seven (if not six). The tenth didn't get any better. It seems that the authors of the soundtrack are trying to put together modern music that sounds in the style of the 2000s, and they are not succeeding. A set of completely faceless tracks comes out - unlike the first parts, which turned songs into hits. Unsurprisingly, the film's best composition is Daddy Yankee's old and fail-safe Gasolina.

Vin Diesel and crew got old

Vin Diesel is 55 years old, but in the new Fast and the Furious, he seems to be much older. The actor resembles a boring grandfather who endlessly talks about the family, remembers the old days and groans. Perhaps, if not for the appearance of the villain, then Dominic Toretto would have gone to play bingo with pensioners. It is obvious that he has not been in street racing for a long time.

If in the past parts Diesel gave the film masculinity and at least some drive, now it has definitely stopped. This is best seen when Jason Statham appears on the screen. I can’t even believe that they are the same age - Statham is even a couple of days older.

The fatigue is striking not only for Vin Diesel, but also for other actors. Ludacris and Tyrese Gibson starred in seven parts, Song Kang in six. The writers didn't bring them good jokes, flashy fights, or dramatic heroics, so they roam the film with the face of a man waiting in line at a clinic appointment.

But there is John Cena and Jason Momoa. It seems that these are the only people who enjoyed filming. They dance, make faces, have fun - they try to stir up a film with a disgusting script. Yes, they fail, but they like to be a part of this story. Everyone else is just serving a number.

"Fast and the Furious" has repeatedly changed throughout all parts. Once upon a time, the main character was the character of Paul Walker, and the films ended with street races. Then came the era of world domination and recklessness, and the Fast and the Furious became silly but enjoyable entertainment. The looming crisis of the franchise was pushed back by inventing incredible problems and new star actors. In the tenth part, there is no Dwayne Johnson the Rock, very little Charlize Theron and Jason Statham, but a lot of Vin Diesel, who solves the problem from the fifth part. Without jokes, without lightness, but with great fatigue.

If the film fails at the box office, it will end with Fast and Furious 11. But if the audience appreciates the picture, then maybe this cash cow will continue to be kicked - even though she has ceased to show signs of life.