Scott Mendelson for Forbes explaining how the Fast and Furious franchise came into its own:
“Maybe it would have just continued on as the Dom and Brian Super Racing Hour. But I suspect that the very thing that kept the franchise alive and then led it to turn into what amounts to an All Avengers only Avengers team-up action spectacular, is that Universal had to keep changing the game as a result of their inability to lock down what would have been a standard sequel template. The failure to make a proper sequel for the first eight years created the kind of expanded universe that Hollywood now craves. That partially explains why the expanded universe model that everyone envies is such a challenge and perhaps not the best way to attempt to fashion franchises. Without taking anything away from the filmmakers and the respective marketing departments, Universal lucked into a goldmine, when their glorified B-movie street racing adventures grew into an ensemble A-level action franchise that every would-be action hero wanted to be a part of.”
This franchise has come a long way and hit their stride with Fast Five. It was a great fit adding Jason Statham, from The Transporter and finally gives us a villain worhty of the crew. These movies are as entertaining as any. The filmmakers and actors are comfortable with the over-the-top action scenes and timely one liners. Everyone has bought in and the result is a wildly entertaining franchise, even for the critics. (86% on rotten tomatoes)