Battle of the Sequels: The Fast Saga.

By Adam Ray Palmer
 
Yes, this feature is back after an 18-month hiatus! It’s also the first ‘Sequels Battle’ I have written as usual it’s a guest writer’s role.
 
However, I wanted to tackle one of the biggest battles of them all, and that is of course the eight-film series called The Fast Saga.
 
But this battle is a little different, there’s versus matches and everything!

The Fast and the Furious – 2001 - Rob Cohen (Director)
Plot:
Los Angeles police officer Brian O'Conner must decide where his loyalty really lies when he becomes enamoured with the street racing world he has been sent undercover to destroy.

Vs.

2 Fast 2 Furious – 2003 – John Singleton (Director)
Plot:
Former cop Brian O'Conner is called upon to bust a dangerous criminal and he recruits the help of a former childhood friend and street racer who has a chance to redeem himself.

Verdict:
The original against the difficult second movie - there’s one winner here for me. The first instalment was inventive, new and riveting. The second film just wasn’t up to scratch. 2 Fast 2 Furious is certainly in the lower half of the rankings.

WINNER: The Fast and the Furious

Tokyo Drift – 2006 – Justin Lin (Director)
Plot:
A teenager becomes a major competitor in the world of drift racing after moving in with his father in Tokyo to avoid a jail sentence in America.

Vs.

Fast & Furious – 2009 - Justin Lin (Director)
Plot:
Brian O'Conner, back working for the FBI in Los Angeles, teams up with Dominic Toretto to bring down a heroin importer by infiltrating his operation.

Verdict:
One winner here, and I think it’s technically by default. Tokyo Drift is the worst film in the saga for me. The series went off on a tangent, and not a good one. On the flip side, the fourth in the series came back with a bang. It was all-singing and all-dancing in the realms of action.

WINNER: Fast & Furious

Fast Five – 2011 - Justin Lin (Director)
Plot:
Dominic Toretto and his crew of street racers plan a massive heist to buy their freedom while in the sights of a powerful Brazilian drug lord and a dangerous federal agent.

Vs.

Fast & Furious 6 – 2013 - Justin Lin (Director)
Plot:
Hobbs has Dominic and Brian reassemble their crew to take down a team of mercenaries: Dominic unexpectedly gets side-tracked with facing his presumed deceased girlfriend, Letty.

Verdict:
I really enjoyed Fast Five, it followed and very good fourth film and took it to new heights. And then when the sixth arrived, it faltered slightly. By no means in Fast & Furious 6 a bad movie, it’s the previous two instalments are simply better. It just so happens that Fast Five is one of the best in the saga anyway.

WINNER: Fast Five

Furious 7 – 2015 – James Wan (Director)
Plot:
Deckard Shaw seeks revenge against Dominic Toretto and his family for his comatose brother.

Vs.

The Fate of the Furious – 2017 – F. Gary Gray (Director)
Plot:
When a mysterious woman seduces Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) into the world of terrorism and a betrayal of those closest to him, the crew face trials that will test them as never before.

Verdict:
During the filming of Furious 7, the unthinkable happened and Paul Walker passed away. In terms of the actual film, his last outing in the saga was quite simply brilliant. The movie had everything in abundance. Emotion, action, stunts and narrative. The difficult follow up for The Fate of the Furious was always going to be difficult, and it didn’t quite have the legs.

WINNER: Furious 7

SEMI-FINAL #1

The Fast and the Furious – 2001 - Rob Cohen (Director)

Vs.

​Fast Five – 2011 - Justin Lin (Director)

Verdict:
Now we hit the big time, the first semi-final. We have the OG, the film that kicked off the saga against one of the best of the offspring. To me, Fast Five nabs it. I could get heat for this, but Fast Five is the more complete movie for me. The series enhance after the halfway point, and it keeps on improving.

WINNER: Fast Five

SEMI-FINAL #2

Fast & Furious – 2009 - Justin Lin (Director)

Vs.

Furious 7 – 2015 – James Wan (Director)

Verdict:
In the second semi-final, as good as Fast & Furious is, Furious 7 takes it. When looking at the movies side-by-side, Furious 7 has the better in both the action/stunts sequences, and what comes from that is the better ‘shock value’ too. What I mean by that is, you can sit in the cinema and go “holy shit, that looks mad”. Furious 7 nails this.

WINNER: Furious 7

THE FINAL

Fast Five – 2011 - Justin Lin (Director)

Vs.

Furious 7 – 2015 – James Wan (Director)

​Verdict:
And here we are, the grand final… welcome your finalists… Fast Five and Furious 7! Firstly, let’s talk about the might of Fast Five. It had in a new setting of Rio de Janeiro, it had returning director of Justin Lin and it also introduced a massive character, Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson. Fast Five certainly kicked ass on screen, having wild stunts throughout and an awesome cat and mouse storyline. It’s a formidable finalist.
 
Furious 7 is too an impressive finalist… for a Fast Saga film, it truly is the complete package. It has the craziest stunts, it has the emotional ending (for real tragic reasons), it has an incredible soundtrack (including the brilliant See You Again) and of course casting bill went up a notch. Jason Statham joined the series fully, and of course it already boasted Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Dwayne Johnson, Gal Gadot, Michelle Rodriguez, Kurt Russell and Djimon Hounsou. This film simply has everything. A lot of people can say the box office success could be down to the sad passing of Walker, but let’s dismiss just how majestic this feature film is. It is everything you need for a cinematic trip, it’s the definition of an action movie.
 
All hail, Furious 7.

Do you agree with my thoughts? What would your last four look like? Who be your number one? Let me know in the comments below, and let’s discuss on the socials!