From bursting out the nose of an exploding plane, to skipping skyscraper to skyscraper, to gently guiding a bank safe across public roads and additional civil engineering, the Fast & Furious franchise has made its mission delivering more outrageous action than the previous movies could ever muster. And as the stunts got crazier for Dom (Vin Diesel), Brian (Paul Walker), Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) and the whole F&F-in’ family, critics were just as willing to go along for the ride. It was finally the fifth Furious film that earned the franchise’s first Fresh. And since then it’s been on a skyward trajectory, like a souped-up Karmann Ghia ramping off an Arrakis sandworm and barrel rolling between a fleet of nuclear dirigibles (you know we’re heading in this direction). Furious 7 reached a high emotional crescendo in the wake of Walker’s death, while follow-up F8 saw a dip, though stayed in the Fresh lane.The latest includes spin-off Hobbs & Shaw, the long-delayed F9, and Fast X. Now that...
