There’s no denying the popularity and success ofTheFast and the Furiousfranchise but there is a trend that has started happening in the back half of the series that’s hurting it. As a whole,Fast and Furiousmovieshave undergone a pretty major overhaul compared to where they began, which is part of the issue.
The franchise began as a relatively small story about street racing and stealing DVDs, then moved to Tokyo to introduce new characters,before bringing everyone togetheras they basically became superheroes. Due to that, it seems like theFast and Furiouscharactersare basically never in actual danger, even when they apparently die.
Fast & Furious Has Brought Too Many People Back From The Dead
The biggest problem with theFast and Furiousfranchise is that itkeeps bringing characters back from the dead. They certainly aren’t the first movie series to ever pull this off, asStar Warsbrought back Emperor PalpatineandWonder Woman 1984awkwardly brought back Steve Trevor, which is just covering recent years.
While those instances were poorly received by fans and critics,Fast and Furioustakes it to the next level by doing it so many times. It first really occurred in a major way when the post-credits scene ofFast Fiverevealed that Letty was still alive, after everyone saw her die in 2009’sFast & Furious.
Since then, the franchise has continued on with this trend, and each time, it has had worse results.The trope has reached the point where it’s actively harming each subsequent sequel.
Bringing Letty Back Was The One Time It Was Fine
As noted, the post-credits scene ofFast Fiverevealed thatLetty was still alive. That made getting her back to the team the focal point ofFast & Furious 6, as she had amnesia and didn’t remember any of the heroes. Of course, an amnesia storyline is a disliked trope among fans of almost every medium.
Though that aspect of Letty’s return wasn’t great, the actual comeback worked well enough. This franchise was still in the process of growing and was just starting to get way over the top, so Letty’s return wasn’t expected. It alsohelped that Michelle Rodriguez is a crowd favorite and longtime fans wanted her back.
The plot added an emotional aspect to the film that wasn’t there in previous installments, as audiences wanted Letty back with the team and with Dom. So even if it was a bit contrived, Letty’s return inFast & Furious 6was one that most fans didn’t have an issue with.
We Love Han But He Didn’t Need To Come Back In F9
Things started to really take a turn for the worse withbringing people back from the dead when Han appeared in theF9trailer. To be fair, Han is a beloved character who stole the show inTokyo Driftbut was killed off in that film.
Han was so popular that the fifth and sixth films were placed asprequels toTokyo Drift, allowing him to appear in them. Although it had only been two installments since he had appeared, fans reacted positively to seeing him in the trailer and his return was highly anticipated.
As good as it is to see Sung Kang back on the big screen,the execution of his return was messy. It was revealed that he survived his “death” in a way that didn’t make much sense and was doing an undercover mission for Mr. Nobody. It made everything overly complicated and didn’t track given the character’s history.
On top of that, Han coming back actually took away from a big moment in the franchise. His death was an emotional one when it first happened, but had added importance when it was revealed that Deckard Shaw was behind it. That made Shaw a major villain and Han’s return even led to them working together, which never felt right.
Gisele Returning In Fast X Made The Least Sense
Fast Xclearly didn’t learn from the issues of bringing Han back as they doubled down andbrought back Gal Gadot’s Gisele in the closing moments. Even more than Han’s return, this makes no sense and whatever explanation they come up with for the sequel is likely to be sloppy.
Gisele was romantically involved with Han and her “death” scene saw her let go of his hand as she fell off a moving vehicle onto a plane runway. Similar to Han’s scene,Gisele’s “death” felt like the kind of thing that was serious and not something she should’ve survived.
Her appearance inFast Xis even more questionable, as she pops up out of a submarine to rescue Letty and Cipher in Antarctica. Has she been working with Mr. Nobody like Han? Is she stationed in Antarctica? On top of that, Gisele isn’t like Letty and Han, as she isn’t a character fans were desperate to see come back.
Death Means Nothing In The Fast Franchise Now
Beyond all the plot holes and story issues that this trope brings to the franchise, it also makes it so death doesn’t matter. Whenever a character is on the verge of death or actually seems to die on screen,the audience is now conditioned not to worry about it.
For example,Fast Xcompletely changed Jakob Toretto’s character for the better, only to have him sacrifice himself for Dom and little Brian. However, even before the credits rolled, people were suggesting that Jakob is likely still alive and will be part of the next film.
That takes away from what should’ve been a big, emotional moment. There’s also thecliffhanger at the end ofFast X, which sees several characters' lives in peril thanks to the nefarious plot of Dante Reyes. It doesn’t hold the same weight that it would in another franchise.
While nobody would believe Dom and Brian are going to die, given their status as main characters, there’s a problem with the cliffhanger surrounding Ramsey, Roman, Tej, and Han. They’re all in a plane that was shot down, yet no fans actually think they’re dead. Such a pivotalFast & Furiousscene meaning so little is a huge disappointment.
