2001’s The Fast and the Furious birthed one of the most successful action movie franchises, which is going strong, and is set to end after an eleventh movie in 2026, although a twelfth film was also teased and might be in the works. Over the years, the films have become more focused on action, with unbelievable vehicular stunts and human feats of athleticism and strength. Fast & Furious 6 has ridiculous scenes that entirely changed the franchise’s outlook, bringing over-the-top action sequences and incoherent plotlines into the mix.

David Ayer, known for writing Training Day, starring Denzel Washington in one of his best Oscar-nominated roles, which he even won the award for, is also the writer of The Fast and the Furious. While some of the best characters in that film have become staple recurring members of every movie in the franchise, its contrast with the later installments is striking. The Fast & Furious franchise often gets written off for its ridiculous blockbuster fare that sacrifices character moments and logic for crazy action. Still, the first movie has aged well in comparison.

8

A Coherent Storyline

The Plot Twists Make Sense

One of the major contentions that critics have with the more recent Fast & Furious movies is that their stories don’t make much sense. There are often too many convenient revelations and contrived plot details that leave glaring logical inconsistencies. Continuity errors are rampant, and the movies are solely focused on setting up elaborate action set pieces at the cost of characterization, confusing viewers with the chaos.

In contrast, The Fast and the Furious has a strictly coherent story that is easy to follow. It features a reasonable number of characters who we follow throughout the movie. There is only one real twist, and even that is revealed to the viewers early on. The story is focused on the experiences of the characters and their reactions to the various circumstances they encounter during the course of the film. The straightforward plot doesn’t have any major plot holes and quickly engages audiences with memorable character moments.

7

Grounded Stunts

The action is somewhat believable

There is a ridiculous scene in every Fast & Furious movie, but it’s not hard to recognize that the stunts become further and further removed from reality as the franchise grows. From Dom flying across a bridge and driving a car between skyscrapers, to Roman and Tej going into space and Dom practically flinging a truck at a supersonic jet using magnets, logic is less essential to the franchise’s action sequences than dramatic flair.

The final stunt in The Fast and the Furious, where Dom and Brian cross train tracks just in time to avoid a train, while ridiculous, could still be seen as a case of exaggerated stuntwork for the sake of thrills. It isn’t completely absurd, and the same applies to all the stunts in the film. There are moments of cinematic convenience that give audiences something to cheer about, but none of it feels absolutely impossible, like Brian running across a falling bus in Furious 7.

6

Small-scale Stakes

There is no supervillain

Over the years, the Fast & Furious franchise has evolved into a stunt-heavy, mission-focused series of movies. Since Brian O’Conner was a police officer, there has always been an element of law enforcement in the franchise, but the team of drivers wasn’t a for-hire crew working for world peace. Now, they regularly take on supervillains who bring the largest stakes to the game, prompting the team to prioritize global safety and take on threats that can only be faced by their growing, larger-than-life personas.

However, The Fast and the Furious is a refreshing rewatch because it’s a very small-scale story in comparison. It focuses on Brian’s mission to take down an illegal operation and his experiences going undercover. There is no supervillain at large, and the criminals aren’t in possession of a weapon of mᴀss destruction. The stakes are defined by the tensions between the characters and the local level on which the criminals operate.

5

Characters Worth Caring About

There are a few characters and they’re worth investing in

There are literally too many characters in the Fast & Furious franchise, who seemingly make significant contributions to the films they are in and the lives of the characters they encounter. Yet, the Fast & Furious franchise has completely forgotten about some of these characters, simply because there’s not enough space to give everyone. Some seemingly important characters even get small cameo appearances, like Dom’s supposed long-lost brother Jakob, who gets limited screen time across two movies in total.

So, going back and rewatching the earlier movies reminds one of the interesting characters the franchise left behind. While most of the major characters from The Fast and the Furious became recurring characters, the focus on them didn’t remain equally distributed. At some point, their characterization was abandoned for moments of snappy dialogue or memorable sequences. Once you feel like you no longer know them, it’s hard to stay invested in their stories. In contrast, The Fast and the Furious gives us characters we get to know quickly and care about a lot.

4

Deaths Are Serious

Characters stay ᴅᴇᴀᴅ, and the deaths are sobering

Deaths in the Fast & Furious franchise have become jokes. It’s a popular running gag among fans that no one stays ᴅᴇᴀᴅ. This is why, despite many characters dying over the years, the impact of death scenes has severely declined. While there are Fast & Furious characters who have stayed ᴅᴇᴀᴅ, it’s anyone’s bet who among them might return for the next film.

However, back when The Fast and the Furious came out, this large-scale transformation hadn’t happened, and the few character deaths all hit hard. Even when rewatching, with all the context of Fast & Furious having become a mainstream blockbuster franchise, the character deaths are sobering because we know these characters won’t return. Moreover, the deaths aren’t epic moments of sensationalized action.

3

A Heartwarming Tale of Friendship

Family and friendship are actually relevant

Despite there being memes and a running gag about it, Vin Diesel says Family in the Fast & Furious movies a reasonably less number of times. The joke stays relevant because the stories become more complex and intertwined with the growing family dynamics in the franchise. There are always major revenge plots in all the films, some involving long-lost or unheard-of family members who show up from nowhere.

However, due to the narrative about togetherness becoming a gimmick for the franchise, there’s not much focus on the themes of friendship and family in the more recent installments. It’s been reduced to a punchline or a plot device, whichever suits the specific film better. Yet, The Fast and the Furious is at times a character-driven story about loyalty and friendship. Dom and Brian’s bond is tested because they’re on opposite sides of the law, but they have a heartwarming level of mutual respect and understanding that’s missing in the later movies, which have few moments of sincerity, if any.

2

Focuses on Car Racing

People actually race each other

Vehicular action sequences are the biggest selling point of the average Fast and Furious movie. Each film depicts a more deranged and daring stunt with a car that makes no sense to anyone with a pᴀssable understanding of physics. However, the suspension of disbelief isn’t difficult to achieve, and if given the chance, ridiculous Fast & Furious action set pieces can be quite entertaining.

But what’s missing from many of the recent movies in the franchise is actual car racing. That was one of the best aspects of the franchise when it first began. The focus on racing and the use of driving and racing skills within the story was one of the biggest appealing factors that got us excited about the new Fast & Furious movies. However, only a few movies have actually focused on racing, and The Fast and the Furious does it more than almost any other film in the franchise. The drag races, the stakes, and the heroic moments remain thrilling even today.

1

Paul Walker’s Breakout Role

He became an international star

One of the highlights of the Fast & Furious franchise, often considered the best scene in the whole franchise, is the heartfelt tribute to Paul Walker in Furious 7, set to Charlie Puth and Wiz Khalifa’s See You Again. The world mourned the actor’s pᴀssing, and we still miss him. Walker’s character, Brian O’Conner, was arguably the best in the franchise, and with the franchise ending soon, it’s particularly heartbreaking to think how much Walker would have loved to be there for that.

So, rewatching The Fast and the Furious is particularly bittersweet – you get to revisit the role that put him on the map globally, but you’re reminded of how his legacy was cut short. However, that doesn’t detract from the performance he gave for seven movies in the franchise, where he was the heart and the glue that kept the crew together. Walker is charismatic, sincere, and expressive in his role in The Fast and the Furious, which endears him to audiences almost immediately.