With Vin Diesel’s tease of the upcoming Fast and Furious 11 movie returning to the Fast and Furious franchise’s roots, there has been a lot of discussion about the practicalities of his statement. With each Fast and Furious movie, the stakes get bigger, and the plots have become more far-fetched, moving the franchise increasingly further away from its street-racing origins. With Fast and Furious 11 slated to be the final movie in the franchise, it makes sense that the last installment will be even bigger than before. Therefore, Vin Diesel’s suggestion of a street-level story causes problems.
Even if Fast and Furious 11 changes its formula, another issue comes in the form of Dominic Toretto. Having been front and center for the majority of the Fast and Furious movies, Vin Diesel’s Dominic Toretto character is a central part of the franchise. That being said, Vin Diesel’s character has gone through some big changes over the years, with one of the main being Dom seemingly adapting to the extreme action around him by becoming almost superhuman. This, of course, creates another problem for the proposed street-level stakes of Fast and Furious 11.
Fast & Furious 11 Can’t Be A Street-Level Movie If Dom Toretto Is Still A Superhero
Dominic Toretto Needs To Be Humanized For Fast & Furious 11
Vin Diesel’s evolving character makes it difficult for Fast and Furious 11 to return to the street-level roots of the franchise because Dominic Toretto has practically become a superhero-like character. Over the years, Dom has been put through a lot of action-packed stunts and fights that should have killed him, yet his character has come out of it all mostly unscathed. This untouchable type of character works well for the over-the-top action movies the Fast Saga has become. However, it could spell trouble when trying to develop a lower-stakes street-level Fast and Furious 11 movie when the main character has proved himself to basically be a superhero.
Yet it is not just the physicality of Dominic Toretto that has changed throughout the Fast and Furious movies, as he also became more stoic and traditionally “good,” following his return in the fourth film. Since then, Toretto has evolved to fit the far-fetched reality of the franchise, becoming a hero, and showing a marked change to the morally ambiguous personality seen in 2001’s The Fast and the Furious. Therefore, if Fast and Furious 11 really wants to get back to street-level stakes, they should focus on making Dom more human again by allowing faults in his character.
Fixing Dominic Toretto Is The Key To Bring Fast & Furious Back To Its Roots
Dominic Toretto And His Family Kept The Fast & Furious Franchise Alive
Fixing Dominic Toretto’s character is a crucial step in bringing Fast and Furious 11 back to its roots because he is the figurehead of the franchise. From the very beginning, Dominic Toretto and his family have been an important part of Fast and Furious, and it is their connections and bond that has allowed the franchise to last as long as it has. Therefore, simply reducing the stakes will not be enough for the film, and there needs to be a focus on Dom’s characterization to bring Fast and Furious 11 back its street-level origins.
It’ll still be difficult for Fast and Furious 11 to return to the franchise’s origins after Fast X.
However, even if Fast 11 addressed its far-fetched plots and nerfed Dominic Toretto into a more human character, it’ll still be difficult for Fast and Furious 11 to return to the franchise’s origins after Fast X. Having ended on such a huge, action-packed cliffhanger, Fast and Furious 11 will struggle to tone down the stakes because it needs to resolve Fast X’s ending first. Unfortunately, it appears the final installment faces many problems in delivering Vin Diesel’s promise, but we can hope that Fast and Furious 11 keeps the franchise’s tone when it finally concludes the long-lasting action franchise.
