The Fast and Furious franchise is one of the most popular franchises in Hollywood, and it doesn't take long into one movie to understand why. Big budgets are blown on fast cars, heart-pounding action and exotic locales, and each installment seems to be even bigger than the last. We're even at a point where spinoffs are happening, as Hobbs and Shaw is set to premiere later this summer.
When a franchise is so successful and as loved as the Fast and Furious, fans look past or forget some of the weird things that happen in these films. I'm not saying they're bad, stupid or even problematic, but it's safe to say there's a lot that happens regularly in this cinematic universe audiences tend to accept even though that's not how things fly in real life. There are plenty of examples, but here are some big ones that stand out.
Fast And Furious Characters Regularly Exhibit Insane Feats Of Strength
It's kind of funny that Hobbs and Shaw will introduce strength-enhancing suits to the Fast and Furious franchise, as the movies have already established one doesn't need one to exhibit superhuman strength. Like, remember that time when Dom lifted a car in Furious 7 so Brian could get underneath it? What about when Hobbs obliterated an interrogation room throwing a criminal through walls and the ceiling?
Hobbs actual exhibits superhuman strength a lot, as Fast and Furious has gone to some pretty extreme lengths to show he's strong. Flexing his broken arm out of a cast was pretty damn impressive, but what about when he used his concrete cell wall as a punching bag while he was in prison in The Fate of the Furious? He did absolutely no damage to his hands, and even managed to run through a horde of prison guards shortly after.
The Characters Converse In Separate Cars And Shouldn't Be Able To Hear Each Other
This weirdness is primarily seen in the early Fast and Furious franchise, and seemed to stop around Fast & Furious 6 when someone thought to give the characters walkie talkies. Before that, however, one will regularly notice characters taunting each other and engaging in dialogue during a race, despite the fact that there's no established way either one can hear each other.
Now, one may say "well they used Bluetooth," and that's something I tried to justify until I found out Bluetooth wasn't a standardized feature in cars until 2010. Now, no doubt Dom and crew had the wits and know-how to get a hold of the tech and get it installed, but then we have to assume each mission/race started with everyone getting together for some massive three-way call situation just to talk shit. Again, it's not unbelievable, but not realistic.
A Chunk Of International Incidents Can Be Solved With Expensive Cars
The Fast and Furious universe has seen its fair share of disasters that Dom and his crew weren't up to the task for, I'm sure, but to think that they've been needed for so many jobs these past two decades is just insane. At what point does a villain just dedicate their time to creating a fortress that can't be accessed by vehicles?
Granted, that's a pretty tough task considering the franchise has had its heroes drive across skyscrapers, over ice and through forests. Hell, they've even air-dropped into locations, so unless the villain is hanging out on some densely forested remote island, Dom and his crew has a good shot at being tasked with taking them down. Cars are a big part of this franchise, of course, but is there ever going to be a situation where they can't use them?
The Casualties In Fast And Furious Films Are Numerous
One thing The Fast and Furious films often skirt around is that as successful as Dominic Toretto and his crew often are, they tend to leave quite the body count in their wake. Bad guys are a given, and while we don't know much about the faceless minions that hang out with dastardly villains like Owen Shaw, we can assume they deserve it.
But like, what about the scores of police officers and special agents that have their cars destroyed in the early films? Are we to assume they walked away like Dom and Jason Statham's Shaw did when they rammed each head on going top speed during a game of chicken? For as many bad guys as these characters have killed, a close eye may notice they've inadvertently killed quite a few innocent bystanders as well with little acknowledgement after the fact.
Jumping Into Moving Cars Apparently Always Works
By this point in the franchise, nearly every character in the Fast and Furious movies has had to jump from one moving object into a car. It's typically a vital situation of life or death, and to the credit of the characters, there's little reason not to considering they all have a 100% success rate in performing the action.
In case it needs to be said, jumping into a car is an incredibly dangerous feat, and probably shouldn't be the go-to option for anyone needing to escape a vehicle/locomotive/giant plane. In fact, there's a couple times in the movies where a simple tuck and roll to the ground may have been the better call. It certainly would've been when O'Conner dove from that train into Dom's car, which then drove off a cliff into the river below.
People Constantly Joke About Roman's Big Head, Which Is Pretty Average
Tyrese Gibson's Roman is often the butt of the joke throughout a lot of The Fast And Furious movies, and is frequently insulted by other members of the crew. Around Fast Five, Tej made fun of him for having a big head, and that's an insult that's interchangeably been brought up between jokes about his stupidity or cowardice.
Here's the thing though, Roman's head is very clearly the same size as many of the other characters in the Fast and Furious world. So either everyone else has a big head that everyone else chooses to ignore, or everyone has a normal sized head and the whole big-headed insults are lame disses that don't even make sense. Audiences can decide for themselves which is true, but let's maybe ease up on calling Roman big head in future movies.
Characters Are Frequently Experts At Whatever They Need To Be For A Situation
Remember when Tej used to organize street races in Miami, and now he's a tech expert/safe cracker/martial artist? Hey, respect to him for being so diverse in his skill set, but he's a classic example of how characters in Dom's crew all have one specific skill, until a scene comes up where the expert is occupied and whoever is there has to do it.
Everyone is a capable fighter, marksman, driver and perhaps with the exception of hacking, everything else that any other character is known for. They're all essentially miniature Dominic Torettos, with Dom of course being the ultimate Dominic Toretto. It's handy considering it means most every member is capable of having their own spinoff, and remarkably convenient considering these seemingly normal people are all so damn talented.
Fast And Furious 9: What We Know So Far
Are there any other weird things about The Fast and Furious franchise that need to be called out? Mention it in the comments below and continue to stick with CinemaBlend for all the latest news in movies and television.
