A little while ago, we dug into the first half of the huge Fast Saga. Initially starting as a series of low-wattage B-movies, the series eventually morphed into mega-budget spy adventures that gave the Mission Impossible and James Bond franchises a run for their money. Of all the movies, Fast Five was undoubtedly the turning point, which took Vin Diesel’s Dom and the rest of the Fast Family to Rio, where they went up against a drug lord and met Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s Luke Hobbs.
From there, the series went on and on, enduring the death of beloved Fast Family member Paul Walker, a global pandemic, directors coming and going, and a feud between two of the stars that was so intense that it led to a spin-off movie and lots of hurt feelings. We also got larger-than-life villains, including Jason Statham’s Owen Shaw, who became so popular that they made him a good guy in F8, Charlize Theron’s Cypher, and most recently, Jason Momoa’s Reyes.
In this episode of What You Need to Know About This Franchise, we dig into the big-budget Fast Saga movies – from Fast Five to Fast X – Part I, digging into which ones we think are the best, which ones you can skip (and why) and more! And, of course, the franchise is far from over, with the second half of Fast X
due in 2025 (if the strike gets settled), as well as a Hobbs and Reyes spin-off.
Do you think the Fast Saga improved as the budgets increased or jumped the shark sometime around when Roman and Tej went to space? Let us know in the comments.