Movies News Talk
Starring in the fourth Fast & Furious film, Laz Alonso has thought back on his experience working on the project and gently questioned the direction the franchise has chosen in following films. Just titled Fast & Furious, the 2009 action film starred Alonso as trusted henchman of Mexican drug lord Arturo Braga, Fenix Calderon. Responsible for the alleged death of Dom's girlfriend Letty, Fenix was instrumental in the climax of the movie and drove the confrontation between Dom and him. Dom rammed his car into Fenix's in a tunnel during an exciting action scene, and finally Fenix met his death.
Alonso discussed Fast & Furious in an interview with WIRED alongside his co-stars from Prime Video's The Boys, stressing the grounded character of the fourth installment as compared to its later successors. Declaring, "I can probably say that I was in one of the original Fast and Furious [Movies] before they went into space, or cars turning into submarines," he expressed his pride in the work they produced. We were quite anchored in the one we worked on, and I am rather pleased of the output we produced together.
Alonso's performance in Fast & Furious reflected realistic stakes with just a few overdone scenes to heighten the action of the show. Starting with Fast Five, which debuted action scenes defying the laws of physics, this sharply contrasts the path of the franchise. One scene where the crew pulls a massive bank vault across Rio de Janeiro's streets and a daring jump hundreds of feet into a river are two instances. With every next movie, this trend of progressively unrealistic stunts persisted until the franchise entered space in F9.
The route the Fast Saga is following for its ending seems to be devoid of grounded reality. The newest book, Fast X, hints even more intense action as Dom confronts Dante Reyes. Though the action scenes in Fast X lack the ridiculousness of space travel, they still feature situations that challenge the survival chances of the main characters and verge on the unbelievable. The Fast Saga's entertainment value is enhanced by the over-the-top character of the later payments, which despite their unrealistic elements becomes a trademark feature of the work.
Although Alonso's performance was crucial for the franchise, Fast & Furious finally turned in a quite different direction, different from most action films. Although this departure from realism has sacrificed some of the grounded aspects of the franchise, it has also driven the wild and erratic character of its action scenes. Anticipation for even more action-packed elements to be revealed is great with Fast & Furious 11 just on horizon.
Although the Fast & Furious series is right now mostly focused on its over-the-top action, a return to more realistic narrative is not completely off-target. Still, the chronology of such a change is yet unknown.
Reunited original stars Vin Diesel as Dominic Toretto and Michelle Rodriguez as Letty Ortiz, Fast & Furious, the fourth installment in the franchise, Five years after the events of the first film, the movie centers Brian O'Conner, Paul Walker's character, who has evolved into an FBI agent assigned to down a heroin supplier. Fast cars, adrenaline-pounding action, and a strong focus on family and loyalty—among the fundamental components of the franchise—were resurrected in this installment.