Popularity Ranking: Best Fast & Furious Franchise

Adeyemi Matthew

There have been ongoing debates on the effects massive movie franchises have on the film industry.

When “The Fast and The Furious” zoomed into theaters in Summer 2001, it initially was greeted by many critics as a flashily entertaining but instantly forgettable recycling of characters and conventions from decades-old B-movies about hot rods and cool cats. Who could have imagined it would spawn no fewer than eleven sequels and a stand-alone spin-off?

Over the years, the franchise has passed through the hands of many filmmakers with an amorphous, ever-fluctuating cast, leading to a series of films that often feel detached and totally disparate from each other, yet somehow undeniably part of the same organism.

Twenty-two years and 11 films later, Fast and Furious continues to evolve every step of the way, be it through the creative influences of different filmmakers or how the tragic real-life death of Paul Walker reshaped the family, the Fast franchise has continued to grow and change, without losing the core of what makes it such an enduring staple at the theater.

The “Fast & Furious” movies have grossed more than $6 billion at the global box office over the years. But ahead of the series’ 11th film, “Fast X,” fans say the over-the-top action franchise has yet to top the heights of its very first installment from 2001.

“The Fast and the Furious” received the highest net favorability rating among self-identified fans of the lucrative film franchise, “2 Fast 2 Furious” wasn’t as popular as “F9”, which earned a decent second place. Emotional “Furious 7” took a place in the middle of the rankings, receiving 3.5x less recognition than the first installment, according to survey conducted by JustWatch prior to the U.S. release of “Fast X.” “F9,” the franchise’s most recent installment received mixed reviews from critics, finished in last place.

The Fast and The Furious (2001)

Undercover cop Brian O’Conner (Paul Walker) infiltrates a gang of speed-demon street-racers suspected of stealing top-dollar electronics from moving delivery trucks. Dominic “Dom” Toretto (Vin Diesel), the leader of the pack, gradually lets down his guard, invites Brian into his inner circle — and even acquiesces, reluctantly, when Brian starts dating Mia (Jordana Brewster), his va-va-voom sister. For a few laps, Brian prefers to believe Asian speedsters led by the snarling Johnny Tran (Rick Yune) are the real hijackers. But when Brian finally snaps to the truth — somewhere around, oh, I dunno, maybe a half-hour after the audience wises up — he does his duty as a cop. 

F9 (2021)

Nostalgic vibes and amber-tinted flashbacks distinguish a greatest-hits sequel that reunites just about everybody ever associated with the “F&F” franchise, including a character long thought to be dead — hah! — and another who’s repeatedly referenced as being alive (albeit conspicuously late for dinner) even though the actor who played him really is deceased. The sci-fi tinged plot has something to do with the good guys chasing after two halves of a super-hacker device that, if connected, could allow the connector to rule the world, and something else to do with Dom’s long-estranged brother (Michael Cena) who has been estranged for so long because, well, Dom thinks he killed their father. Trouble is, that’s not quite enough to dispel a wall-to-wall sense of déjà vu. “F9” is a not-bad, not-great action-adventure that attempts to top, or at least match, the excitement level and testosterone quotient of previous entries in the series, but only sporadically succeeds. 

Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw (2019)

In the franchise’s first spinoff, Luke Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) and Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham) reluctantly team — very reluctantly, actually — to locate and protect Shaw’s sister, Hattie (Vanessa Shaw), an MI6 agent who injects herself with a humanity-threatening virus to keep it from being snatched by Brixton Lorr (Idris Elba), a technology-enhanced “Black Superman” aligned with an organization not unlike the anarchists who figure into the later “Mission: Impossible” films. There is something at once exhilarating and exhausting about the movie’s one-damn-thing-after-another assemblage of increasingly (and spectacularly) over-the-top action set pieces. Indeed, one can easily image credited screenwriters Chris Morgan and Drew Pearce constructing their scattershot narrative during story conferences that consisted mostly of “Wouldn’t it be cool if we did this?” and “Yeah, but then it would be cooler if we did that!” Still, the hilariously hostile, “I’m more macho than you!” give-and-take between Johnson and Stratham is this action-adventure’s most special effect. And Shaw is an ass-kicking, bone-breaking marvel.

The Fate of the Furious (2017)

Referencing everything from John Woo’s “Hard Boiled” (a shoot-out in which a shooter shields a baby) to Sergei Eisenstein’s “Alexander Nevsky” (an epic battle on ice), this episode occasionally recalls all the instances in earlier films where drivers used nitrous oxide injections to increase their flagging pace. Even so, it’s still exciting to watch the gang (joined by Kurt Russell’s Mr. Nobody, and Scott Eastwood as Mr. Nobody’s green assistant) as they tangle with Charlize Theron as Cipher, an ice-cold criminal mastermind who uses the long-absent Elena Neves — see, I told you she’d be back! — to temporarily turn Dom against his family for the greater bad. Deckard Shaw appears to redeem himself here, though it’s disappointing that he and Hobbs don’t make good on their threats to pulverize each other — and more than a little jarring to see how quickly Dom forgives and forgets what the guy did to Han.

Fast & Furious (2009)

Together again: Brian (Paul Walker), Dom (Vin Diesel), Mia (Jordana Brewster) and (fleetingly) Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) are reunited to get maximum mileage from a routine plot about another undercover mission to bring down yet another drug kingpin. (Han, played by Sung Kang, also pops up, briefly, the first sign that some sort of time-warp thing is going on after “Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift.”) This time, it’s personal: Dom agrees to help Brian — now working for the FBI — nab bad boy Arturo Braga (John Ortiz), who employs street racers to smuggle his product in from Mexico, because the villain had Letty killed. (Yeah, right.) The final scene suggests that the bus carrying Dom to a federal prison won’t reach its final destination.

Furious 7 (2015)

Wire-to-wire action and industrial-strength testosterone dispel any melancholy cloud that might have hung over this chapter following the real-life death of lead player Paul Walker (who perished in an unrelated auto mishap during a break in production). With a little help from CGI aces — and discreet stand-in work by Walker’s brothers, Caleb and Cody — Brian looms as large as usual in the proceedings while the gang helps a spymaster named Mr. Nobody (franchise newbie Kurt Russell) retrieve God’s Eye, a computer program capable of using digital devices for global surveillance of… of… aw, who cares? It’s just the McGuffin, employed to justify a hunt that entails more globe-trotting than is the norm for an average James Bond flick. Deckard Shaw, making good on his promise to make himself known after killing Han (yeah, right) in the last episode, tries to raise the body count by terminating Dom and his buddies for their role in capturing and injuring his brother Owen. Meanwhile, Hobbs spends a lengthy stretch of the movie off-screen, recuperating after a scrape with Deckard, suggesting Dwayne Johnson may have shot another movie, or appeared at a couple Wrestlemania extravaganzas, between his opening and climactic scenes. And Vincent is still very seriously dead.

Fast Five (2011)

The franchise’s tenuous grip on reality gives way altogether in this episode, which signals the transition from high-speed racing to heist-movie action. After springing Dom from the prison-bound bus, Brian and Mia accompany him to Rio, where, along with Brian’s buddy Vince (Matt Schulze), who hasn’t been around since the first “Fast and Furious” film, they hatch a plot to steal cars from a moving train. One thing leads to another, faster than the speed of thought, and the ragtag crew expands to include Roman, Tej, Han, Gisele, and “Fast & Furious” vets Leo (Tego Calderon) and Santos (Don Omar), in order to separate another freakin’ drug lord (Joaquim de Almeida) from his ill-gotten gains. Dwayne Johnson, clearly having the time of his life, brings his boisterous bellowing and bulging biceps to the series in his first appearance as U.S. Diplomatic Security Service agent Luke Dobbs, who helps push the testosterone level into the red zone and, midway through the final credits, discovers Letty may — ta-dah! — may still be alive.

The Fast and The Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006)

For much of its running time, “Tokyo Drift” appears to be the “Halloween III” of the “Fast & Furious” series, a standalone entry with only a titular connection to other films in the franchise. The plot pivots on Sean Boswell (Lucas Black), a young American who is punished for his street-racing shenanigans by being shipped off to live with his Navy officer dad in Tokyo. Once there, he becomes involved in the local street-race culture, learning from underworld-connected car maven Han Lue (Sung Kang) how to successfully “drift” through hairpin turns during high-speed competitions. After Han is killed in an auto mishap — OK, pardon me a moment while I laugh — Sean soldiers on to defeat the vile Takashi (Brian Tee), nephew of Yakuza boss Kamata (the legendary Sonny Chiba), for the title of “Drift King.” While celebrating his victory, he’s challenged by another American: Dom, whose climactic cameo appearance indicates that, hey, this really is a “F&F” movie after all.

Fast & Furious 6 (2013)

Hail! Hail! The gang’s all here! Brian, Dom, Mia, Elena Neves (Elsa Pataki), Giselle, Han, Roman, Tej, Dobbs and even Letty are back in action, reunited to tangle with Owen Shaw (Luke Evans), a former SAS officer intent on stealing components for some kind of superweapon and selling it to the highest bidder. Turns out that Letty survived being in a fiery car crash — and getting shot by a drug lord’s minion — but lost her memory and, until her reunion with Dom, temporarily went over to the dark side. Unfortunately, Brian’s friend Vincent (Matt Schulze), who was killed in the last installment, is still very seriously dead. Even more unfortunately, Gisele also joins the ranks of the deceased — sorry, I have to laugh again; OK, let’s get back to the story — during a shootout while the good guys prevent the takeoff of Shaw’s getaway plane. At the end, Elena proves to be a good sport about getting out of the picture once Dom is back with Letty.

2 Fast 2 Furious (2003)

After severing his ties with LAPD by allowing Dom escape at the end of the first “Fast and Furious” movie, Brian pursues a profitable career in the exciting world of street racing. But he’s given a shot at redemption — and, better still, an opportunity to erase his criminal record — when he’s recruited by the FBI to infiltrate the outfit of Argentine drug lord Carter Verone (Cole Hauser). During his undercover enterprise, he’s aided by franchise newcomers Tyrese Gibson as Roman Pearce, a childhood friend (and ex-con) from the mean streets of Barstow, and Chris “Ludacris” Bridges as Tej Parker, a savvy street race organizer.

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May 19, 2023