Where is the ‘Fast and Furious’ Franchise Going, Exactly?

Welcome to The Queue — your daily distraction of curated video content sourced from across the web. Today, we’re watching a video essay that explores the good and bad aspects of the seemingly un-killable Fast and Furious franchise.

I’ll say this for the Fast and Furious franchise: you have to respect a film series that does exactly what it says on the tin. Them cars be fast. And I am definitely furious every time I have to re-learn who the good guys and bad guys are. Every one of these movies should start with a “previously on” segment I swear to god. Pretend I don’t know anything. I’ve seen every single one of these movies and my dedicated “F&F character alignment” spreadsheet is starting to get out of control.

I’ll come right out and admit that I respect folks who get a kick out of Vin Diesel‘s cinematic epic about backyard barbecues, family, and NOS. But these movies just aren’t for me. My favorite film in the series is easily Tokyo Drift, which was the last time the franchise pretended to take place in something approximating reality.

All that said, whether you’re a die-hard fan, a hater, or somewhere in the middle like me, there’s no doubting that the franchise’s twisty trajectory is absolutely fascinating. How did we go from crime dramas to ensemble heists? Why did the protagonist change from someone on the outs to Diesel’s Dom? Why are the films named in the most confusing and unintuitive way possible? How did these movies go from street racing to outer space?

The video essay below has answers to the above, and then some. And given the poor reception of the most recent Fast and Furious entry, perhaps the franchise will pivot yet again.

Watch “What the Hell Happened to Fast and Furious?”

Who made this?

This video essay on what’s going on with the Fast and Furious franchise is by Adam Tinius, who runs the YouTube channel Entertain the Elk. They are based in Pasadena, California. You can follow them on YouTube here. And you can follow them on Twitter here.

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• And, finally, here’s Entertain the Elk with a video essay about why films employ unreliable narrators by looking at Akira Kurosawa’s classic, Rashomon.