I mean this without a hint of irony when I say that I love the Fast And Furious series. Over the past two decades the franchise has gotten progressively bigger with every new movie. It’s gone from a street-level crime film about people stealing DVD players to dragging a bank vault through the streets of Brazil to cars being shot into space. What’s not to love?
With the latest instalment in the Fast saga just around the corner, we’re taking a look back at the series’ biggest beefs and feuds to get ourselves hyped up for Fast And Furious 9.
Everyone vs. Driving slow
I mean, it’s right there in the film’s title.
Brian O’Conner vs. Dominic Toretto
Remember when Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) was the bad guy?
Brian O’Conner (Paul Walker) is an LAPD officer who goes undercover to infiltrate the world of illegal street racing in the hopes of finding the identity of a heist crew that has been knocking over electronic shipments.
Brian does his best to not get in too deep, but like everyone else in the world, he can’t resist the charm of Dom. But that friendship is tested when it’s revealed that Brian’s new BFF is leading the heist crew.
From strangers to enemies to brothers. Now excuse me while I watch the ending of Fast And Furious 7 and violently sob.
Dom vs. Luke Hobbs
Whoever came up with the bright idea of adding in Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson into Fast 5 as the no-nonsense DSS agent Luke Hobbs deserves no less than $100 million, every year, for the rest of their life.
Hobbs is such a good foil to Dom. He’s a huge hard-arse who refuses to back down, up against the guy who refuses to slow down. The movie continually teases out a big fight between the two, and when these two beefy boys finally do throw down, it does not disappoint.
I don’t remember the name of the actual bad guy from Fast 5, but that scene where Dom big dogs Hobbs in Brazil is burnt into my memory for all time.
Dom vs. Any beer that isn’t Corona
The man knows what he likes. What more can you say?
The Fast crew vs. The Shaw Brothers
Family versus family. By himself, Owen Shaw (Luke Evans) is not that interesting of a bad guy. However, without his defeat in Fast and Furious 6 we wouldn’t get one of the best villains of the entire series.
At the end of Fast 6, we learn that Owen has an older brother, Deckard (Jason Statham) who announces himself by killing Han (Sung Kang). Brutal.
Deckard goes on to torment the Fast family throughout Fast And Furious 7, we get two great fight scenes with both Hobbs and Dom both throwing hands with Deckard on seperate occasions.
A special shout out to Statham for playing Deckard with the same kind of mean bastard energy of someone who’d probably glass you for cheering for the wrong football team while at the pub.
Everyone vs. Dom
The Fast series has done a pretty good job of building up Dom as this unbeatable figure. He’s the guy who drove a car out of two skyscrapers in Fast And Furious 7 with the same casualness of someone going to the local shops on a Sunday.
So when he turns rogue in The Fate of the Furious and starts using those seemingly god-like driving skills on his mates? Ah, so good.
Dom vs. Jakob Toretto
We’ve spent the last two decades listening to Dom talk about how important his chosen family is. He literally says, “The most important thing in life will always be family” in Fast And Furious 7 during the film’s big emotional ending.
So the reveal that Fast And Furious 9‘s big villain is Dom’s estranged little brother, Jakob Toretto (John Cena)? Absolute poetry in motion.
You’re telling me the man who loves his family turned his back on actual related-by-blood family, only for Jakob to become a master thief and assassin that’s hellbent on taking revenge on Dom and his crew? Hook it to my veins.
Fast And Furious 9 is in cinemas from June 17.
