A
new year means a new project to work through when I’m not caressing creative
work, a survey to undertake and reflect upon. What shall this survey be?
Perhaps I ought go to the other end of the spectrum from Miyazaki, eh? In this
age of ultra-franchise, mayhap I should look to one of those? And perchance it
should be one I love, and yet many who know me find that love confusing? Yes,
you are cordially invited to join my ridiculous, longwinded study of The Fasts and the Furiouses.
More
than once, it’s been assumed my F&F love
is a joke. And I’m not going to deny there isn’t an ironic element to my
adoration, but can something be a joke and genuine at once? Life, especially a
life lived a quarter mile at a time, is often about containing those contrasts.
But it is a contrast that can be tough to reconcile. I’m not a gearhead, though
a friend has asserted that enjoying these movies does actually make us Car
Guys. And I think that’s actually the case, because while I’m not encyclopedic
on makes and models and I’m not much a one for tuning, I do like and admire cars,
though my local area being fond of blandly utilitarian sedans and SUVs and old cracker luxury cars doesn’t
give me much of an opportunity. But, I have six proudly curated fake garages in
GTA Online, so clearly I have an itch that needs scratching somewhere.
One thing I for sure and for certain
am, however, is a car chase guy—I like speed, momentum, kineticism, and real
stunt work, which are increasingly rare in this age, as more and more films
climax with a huge CG attack on a major city. I also like comic-esque
continuity universes, lovable rogues and outsiders, expansive casts, crime
stories and heist stories, secret worlds, hand-to-hand fights, and people with
skills they’ve developed. And you know what, I sometimes like unearned
portentousness, and silly charming gravitas.
I also happen to like video games,
the aesthetic of which I think F&F has
best integrated. Usually when we say “video game aesthetic” in relation to a
movie, we’re taking about some bloated CG sequence, a weightless climax that
feels like a boss fight more than anything, or a quest structure built on
collecting items. Here, though, I mean a sense of appealing, adolescent amoral
escapism, and a flair for awesome and improbable sequences. I don’t think it’s
a coincidence that the climax of Fast
& Furious 6 is a lot like the climax of Full Throttle, nor that it looks like in Furious 7, Brian O’Connor will find himself in a predicament much
like one Nate Drake faced in Uncharted 2.
As an aside, I think GTA would be
well served by being more F&F and
less faux-Michael Mann burdened with dorm-level satire.
There is also a joyful escalation of
awesomeness in the movies, an obvious need from everyone involved to top what
came before in clever, inventive ways. From assembling the ultra-team (we may
heap acclaim on Disney/Marvel’s acumen in making standalone movies leading to
the giant team-up, but F&F
pioneered the form), to bringing in The Rock, then both Gina Carano and Joe
Taslim of The Raid: Redemption fame,
to now Tony Jaa and, of course, this summer’s great promise, Chev “Crank”
Chelios himself, Jason Statham oh my god The
fucking Transporter versus The F&F crew fuckin’ A dude!!
Ahem. Anyway. In the eternal race to
give the audience More, it’s great that some think that doesn’t have to be a
bigger CG attack on a bigger city.
So join me, if you will, as I NOS my
way through The Fast and the Furious series
in release order (not in continuity order, yes such a thing does exist, and
yes, it is important). Fortunately, not being at the whim of Disney’s stingy
release strategy, it’ll go much faster. No pun.
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