History YMMV / TheFastAndTheFurious

* ''YMMV/FastAndFurious9''

* BrokenBase: The franchise's famous tendency to insert the events of every installment into a bigger picture in the next (often in a heavy-handed way or using {{Retcon}} in plenty) is considered both a sign of ingenuity on the writers's part ''and'' an inevitable source of controversial and unexpected plot twists, if not downright AssPull moves. The discussion reached its peak at the eight film, which puts a lot of effort to turn the irreedemable villains of the two previous into heroic unwitting pawns at the expense of their characterization.

* TheProblemWithLicensedGames: ''Fast & Furious Crossroads'', despite being developed by acclaimed racing game developer Slightly Mad Studios and having of some the franchise's main actors among the cast, has been criticized for its weak and short story, heavy-handed linearity, [[ItsEasySoItSucks low difficulty]], [[DullSurprise bored voice acting]], dated graphics, and lack of features such as car customization, [[DrivingStick manual transmission]], different camera angles or even ''a speedometer'', all while being priced as a $60 AAA title.

* TheProblemWithLicensedGames: ''Fast & Furious Crossroads'', despite being developed by acclaimed racing game developer Slightly Mad Studios and having of some the franchise's main actors among the cast, has been criticized for its weak and short story, [[ItsEasySoItSucks low difficulty]], [[DullSurprise bored voice acting]], dated graphics, and lack of features such as car customization, [[DrivingStick manual transmission]] or even ''different camera angles'', all while being priced as a $60 AAA title.

* TheProblemWithLicensedGames: ''Fast & Furious Crossroads'', despite being developed by acclaimed racing game developer Slightly Mad Studios and having of some the franchise's main actors among the cast, has been criticized for its weak and short story, [[ItsEasySoItSucks low difficulty]], [[DullSurprise bored voice acting]], dated graphics, and lack of features such as car customization, [[DrivingStick manual transmission]] or even ''different camera angles''.

* HolyShitQuotient: The first trailer for ''Film/TheFateOfTheFurious''. [[spoiler: Notably Dom's (apparent) FaceHeelTurn, the team's EnemyMine with Shaw, the submarine, and the finale of Cipher kissing Dom in front of Letty.]]
** That's nothing compared to the trailer for ''Film/HobbsAndShaw'' by taking the franchise's [[SerialEscalation continuous disengagement from reality]] to unforeseen levels by featuring ''[[GenreShift an actual supervillain]]'' as the antagonist. As in, one with [[TheSeriesHasLeftReality actual superpowers]], and not just [[CharlesAtlasSuperpower implicit ones]].
** And then the trailer for ''F9: The Fast Saga'' pops up with a new bombshell: [[spoiler: ''[[ReportsOfMyDeathWereGreatlyExaggerated HAN IS ALIVE]].'']]

* SnarkBait: The reveal in 2019 that ''every'' major actor in the franchise has a specific contract to keep them from ever looking bad in fight scenes got a lot of mockery wondering just how insecure these actors seem to be. Creator/DwayneJohnson got it especially bad given the big deal he'd made about Creator/VinDiesel being a "candy ass."

** It began as grounded in reality gangster films before [[SequelEscalation ramping up the weirdness with each installment.]] This has made some call it the perfect ''VideoGame/SaintsRow'' movie.

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: For the matter of the Shaw brothers, Owen mentioned that he got his code of 'Precision' from Deckard. That trait made him into the heartless bastard he is in the sixth movie, but come the seventh, Deckard forgets all about that and just goes all RoaringRampageOfRevenge on Dom's crew because they [[spoiler: crippled]] Owen, alone. Does this mean the Shaw brothers have some HiddenDepths within them, and that deep down they're not really that different from Dom when it comes to the importance of family?

* BaseBreakingCharacter: Roman has started turning into a controversial character due to a perceived decay on the quality of his comic relief and the fact that he is the most StaticCharacter in the entire franchise.
* BrokenBase: The franchise's famous tendency to insert the events of every installment into a bigger picture in the next (often in a heavy-handed way or using {{Retcon}} in plenty) is considered both a sign of ingenuity on the writers's part ''and'' an inevitable source of controversial and unexpected plot twists. The discussion reached its peak at the eight film, which puts a lot of effort to turn the irreedemable villains of the two previous into heroic unwitting pawns at the expense of their characterization.

** In Fast And Furious, you don't have a 5-Gear Manual, you have a 26-Gear Manual. [[labelnote:Explanation]] It's commonly joked that because of how frequently the Characters shift gears in the Franchise, that their cars have a Manual Transmission with more than the normal amount of Transmission Gears.[[/labelnote]]

* SnarkBait: The reveal in 2019 that ''every'' major actor in the franchise has a specific contract to keep them from ever looking bad in fight scenes got a lot of mockery wondering just how insecure these actors are. Creator/DwayneJohnson got it especially bad given the big deal he'd made about Creator/VinDiesel being a "candy ass."

* ''YMMV/FuriousSeven''

* ''YMMV/FastAndFuriousSix''

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: For the matter of the Shaw brothers, Owen mentioned that he got his code of 'Precision' from Deckard. That trait made him into the heartless bastard he is in the sixth movie, but comes the seventh, Deckard forgets all about that and just goes all RoaringRampageOfRevenge on Dom's crew because they [[spoiler: crippled]] Owen, alone. Does this mean the Shaw brothers have some HiddenDepths within them, and that deep down they're not really that different from Dom when it comes to the importance of family?

** Almost every song in the series. Ludacris? Teriyaki Boyz? N.E.R.D? Don Omar? deadmau5? Cypress Hill? Peaches? Huh-uh.

* CriticalDissonance: Every film in the franchise, though downplayed with the later entries as [[SurprisinglyImprovedSequel reception of the franchise seems to generally become more positive]] (compare the middling 36% ''2'' gets compared to the solidly positive 81% of ''Fate''). Each film has a higher audience score on Rotten Tomatoes than the actual critic score. The fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth films have audience scores in the 70-80%s.
* DesignatedHero: Dom and his crew frequently use plans that cause massive collateral damage and put innocent people in danger, but the films gloss over any potential casualties. In ''Fast Five'' they flat out murder over a dozen police officers when they break into the police station and escape with the vault full of money, and the movie glosses over saying the police are all corrupt. And yet Dom insists that they aren't killers. To be fair, in the sixth film, Dom and the crew (plus Letty, whose on Owen Shaw's team) are shocked when Shaw hijacks a tank and begins running over people, leading them to try to stop him from hurting anyone else by stopping the tank.
* EvenBetterSequel: ''Fast Five'' and ''Furious 7'' have the highest Website/RottenTomatoes ratings in the series at 78% and 82%, respectively (compared to 53% for the first installment).

* GrowingTheBeard: The first four movies had their fans, but it was generally a niche audience and they received mixed-to-negative reviews. With ''Fast Five'', however, reception rose dramatically, both from critics and the public, a trend that continued to the next movies.
* HarsherInHindsight: Paul Walker (who played Brian O'Conner) being killed in a car crash becomes one considering that speeding cars is the bread-and-butter of the franchise, even after the street racing aspect was phased out. It becomes worse when you consider how many times Walker's character managed to escape or at the very least come away uninjured from serious accidents and explosions in the movies. Even worse, in fact, considering that Walker died on a Porsche when Brian and gang usually drive similar luxury cars.
* HilariousInHindsight: ''WebVideo/CinemaSins'' poked at the apparent overlap with ''Film/TheExpendables'' franchise with the introduction of [[spoiler:Creator/JasonStatham]]. Now #7 one-upped them by adding [[spoiler:Ronda Rousey!]]
* HoYay: Has its own [[HoYay/TheFastAndTheFurious page]].
* HolyShitQuotient: The first trailer for the 8th film. [[spoiler: Notably Dom's (apparent) FaceHeelTurn, the team's EnemyMine with Shaw, the submarine, and the finale of Cipher kissing Dom in front of Letty.]]

** Everytime Vin Diesel uses the word "Family" or educating other characters about TheBroCode.

* MyRealDaddy: While the original movie was directed by Rob Cohen and the early films were written by Gary Scott Thompson, most people credit director Justin Lin (with James Wan also receiving some credit as of the seventh film) and writer Chris Morgan for really bringing the franchise to the heights its known for today.
* {{Narm}}: Vin Diesel's constant turning around in a badass way can get silly after a while.

* SnarkBait: The reveal in 2019 that ''every'' major actor in the franchise has a specific contract to keep them from ever looking bad in fight scenes got a lot of mockery wondering just how insecure these actors are. Dwayne Johnson got it especially bad given the big deal he'd made about Vin Diesel being a "candy ass."

** The later films have been compared as a throwback to over the top action movies of the 80s to the point that it could be considered as a better Expendables movie than the actual ''Film/TheExpendables'' movies (and sharing a star in Creator/JasonStatham doesn't hurt).

* SpecialEffectFailure: It's pretty obvious in the first four films when CGI is used for the cars. The fifth and sixth films are ''much'' less obvious about it. The best (worst?) examples of this are the race at the beginning of ''Film/TwoFastTwoFurious'' and the tanker heist in the fourth film.

* BoringInvincibleHero: As it was said in WebVideo/CinemaSins:
--> '''Jeremy:''' "Guys, I'm tired. I actively hope Dom dies, or at least fails, every time he does a stunt like this... You can't be this good or lucky. It takes all the tension out of the scene when the guy doesn't ever lose."

* SpiritualAdaptation: The later films have been compared as a throwback to over the top action movies of the 80s to the point that it could be considered as a better Expendables movie than the actual ''Film/TheExpendables'' movie. The car stunts and chases have also been compared to the ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto'' series.

* LateArrivalSpoiler: It's kind of hard to avoid the fact that [[spoiler:Deckard Shaw [[HeelFaceTurn becomes an ally for the protagonists]]]], considering that he and Hobbs now have their own spinoff movie.

* CriticalDissonance: Every film in the franchise. Each film has a higher audience score on Rotten Tomatoes than the actual critic score. The fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth films have audience scores in the 80%'s

* CrowningMusicOfAwesome:
** Almost every song in the series. Ludacris? Teriyaki Boyz? N.E.R.D? Don Omar? deadmau5? Cypress Hill? Peaches? Huh-uh.
** "See You Again" from the seventh movie, which is a TearJerker if ever there was one.

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation:
** Was the alliance between Deckard Shaw and Jakande genuine, like the narrative somehow implies in contrast with the "not friends, but family" relationships among Dom's team, or it was merely business? If it was a true VillainousFriendship, then Jakande firing the missiles against Dom and Deckard at seeing that Shaw was gonna be captured would take [[MercyKill a new sense]] as opposed to a simple [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness opportunistic backstab]], considering that Deckard would have to go through a [[AndIMustScream really, really hard life experience]] if a government put its hands on him.
** And for the matter of the Shaw brothers, Owen mentioned that he got his code of 'Precision' from Deckard. That trait made him into the heartless bastard he is in the sixth movie, but comes the seventh, Deckard forgets all about that and just goes all RoaringRampageOfRevenge on Dom's crew because they [[spoiler: crippled]] Owen, alone. Does this mean the Shaw brothers have some HiddenDepths within them, and that deep down they're not really that different from Dom when it comes to the importance of family?
** The eighth film backs up the interpretation that both Deckard and Owen [[spoiler:take family seriously. They're both loyal to their mother, and Deckard makes amends to Dom after he gives him the location of where Owen is being held.]]
** In the eighth movie, Deckard [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown beats a mook to death]] for shooting at a [[spoiler: baby]]. This results in two interpretations of the character. Either he didn't know about Brian's son in the seventh movie when he sent a bomb to his house in an attempt to kill him and is true to his values, or he [[WouldHurtAChild did know]] and is a complete and utter hypocrite. Most likely he didn't know and his target was Brian.
* BaseBreakingCharacter:
** Roman has started turning into a controversial character due to a perceived decay on the quality of his comic relief and the fact that he is noticeably the most StaticCharacter in the franchise.
** Little Nobody in ''The Fate of the Furious'' has been met with controversy, as his character does [[StealthPun little]] for the plot and instead eats screentime that would be better used for other characters, especially his much better received superior Mr. Nobody.
** Madgalene Shaw. Her appearance is either a hilarious and awesome addition to the Shaws (and the franchise, considering [[Creator/HelenMirren who]] plays the good mama) or the point in which the brothers's aura goes definitely out of the window.

* EarWorm:
** "Act a Fool" from the second movie and "Tokyo Drift" from the third.
** "We Own It" from the sixth film. Even if you don't like Wiz Khalifa and/or 2 Chainz, the chorus is ''damn'' catchy.
** "Danza Kuduro" in the fifth.
** "Get Low" from the seventh, used in many of the commercials and the ''VideoGame/ForzaHorizon'' standalone expansion based on ''F&F''.
** "Payback", also from seventh, playing during Deckard Shaw's EstablishingCharacterMoment opening scene.
** "See You Again" from the seventh as well. The chorus alone and Charlie Puth's crooning will get stuck in your head.

* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff:
** $327 million in the US is certainly nothing to sneeze at, but ''Furious 7'' made over ''$1 billion'' across the rest of the world, good enough to make it the ''fourth-highest grossing movie ever'' at the time (it quickly dropped two spots to #6 later that same year). The biggest market for the movie was China, where it is #1 all-time over there earning the equivalent of $337 million.
** From the beginning, the series has also been known for having a large and very dedicated Latino fanbase.
** ''Tokyo Drift'' flopped Stateside, not even coming close to making back its budget and marketing costs. It would likely have been the FranchiseKiller for the series had it not done a lot better outside the U.S. and had strong DVD sales, which were enough to convince the studio to take a gamble on a fourth film.

* HarsherInHindsight:
** Han's desire for superficial relationships/keeping people at arm's length in ''Tokyo Drift'' [[spoiler: after watching Gisele die to save him in ''Fast & Furious 6''.]] It would also seem to explain his devil may care attitude about everything and "Money isn't everything." comment.
** Paul Walker (who played Brian O'Conner) being killed in a car crash becomes one considering that speeding cars is the bread-and-butter of the franchise, even after the street racing aspect was phased out. It becomes worse when you consider how many times Walker's character managed to escape or at the very least come away uninjured from serious accidents and explosions in the movies. Even worse, in fact, considering that Walker died on a Porsche when Brian and gang usually drive similar luxury cars.
** Eerily enough, TNT broadcast ''The Fast and the Furious'' on the day it was announced Paul Walker was killed. No, it wasn't a tribute. The broadcast was scheduled weeks in advance.
** Dom explanation of his father's death in the first movie is eerily similar to how Walker's fatal accident played out.
** [[http://kissfm969.com/leaked-paul-walker-funeral-scene-one-more-funeral-from-fast-furious-7-video/ A scene from Fast and Furious 7]], leaked just a few hours before Paul's death had Brian and Roman attending Han's funeral. Roman says that he doesn't want any more funerals, where Brian says that there will be 'just one more'. In the context of the situation, the character was referring to the film's villain, yet it is still very chilling, especially with such a small time gap between the scene being leaked and the actor's untimely death.
** Han's fate in ''Tokyo Drift'' comes off as this considering that in ''Fast Five'', a joke is made with his name when the passports the crew used to enter Brazil are briefly seen onscreen and Han's reads "[[Franchise/StarWars Han Seoul-Oh]]", and [[Film/TheForceAwakens years later in an unrelated movie]], [[spoiler:the character from whom said name is derived also died.]]
** Creator/RondaRousey's fight scene in ''Furious 7'' was carefully written not to make her look bad, as she was at the time the UFC Women Bantamweight Champion, the most popular female MMA fighter in the world, and even a potential Wrestling/{{WWE}} high-level prospect. Mere months after the release of the film, she lost her championship to Holly Holm and her MMA career never recovered. She did end up becoming a WWE wrestler, though.
* HilariousInHindsight:
** ''Fast 5'' being the entry which saw the franchise undergo a GenreShift from street racing to heist movie, when you remember that ''The Brazillian Job'', the sequel to the ''[[Film/{{The Italian Job 2003}} The Italian Job]]'' remake that was stuck in DevelopmentHell for years, was going to be set in Brazil. Further compounded by the fact ''The Italian Job'' had a [[MarketBasedTitle Market Based]] StockSubtitle of "L.A. Heist" & ''Fast 5'' had the MarketBasedTitle "Rio Heist" which led people to believe that the screenplay used for ''Fast 5'' was in fact the same script for ''The Brazillian Job'' reworked to fit the franchise.
** The ''Italian Job'' connections became even funnier when F. Gary Gray, the director of the remake, was announced to be the director of ''Fast 8'', which would also reunite two of that film's stars, Jason Statham and Charlize Theron.
** The cable guns in the sixth movie are surprisingly similar to the grappling hook in ''[[VideoGame/JustCause Just Cause 2]]'' in the way tethering one vehicle to another creates over-the-top physics-related havoc.
** The ''Fast And The Furious: Drift'' (released around the same time as ''Tokyo Drift'') arcade game allows you to customize numerous cars with various parts including neon lights. Among the cars that can be customized are the Ford GT and '67 Mustang Fastback. Five years later came ''Fast Five''. Hobbs' crew recovers a Ford [=GT40=] (a contemporary of the Mustang Fastback and the inspiration for the Ford GT) with an aftermarket stereo system. He mocks the stereo in the classic car saying "Might as well put neons on it."
** One year before Ludacris joined the cast in ''2 Fast 2 Furious'', he released the memetic hard-driving theme song, "Move Bitch", still his most famous song to date. He may have been cast because of this.
** ''WebVideo/CinemaSins'' poked at the apparent overlap with ''Film/TheExpendables'' franchise with the introduction of [[spoiler:Creator/JasonStatham]]. Now #7 one-upped them by adding [[spoiler:Ronda Rousey!]]
** In-universe example. In the ending montage of ''Fast Five'', Roman and Tej got a hold of two Koenigsegg [=CCXRs=], very rare sports cars with only four units built. Roman said that he got his from making a deal with a sheikh in Abu Dhabi. [[spoiler: Comes ''Furious 7'', the crew actually got to visit Abu Dhabi and infiltrated an Arabian prince's party and ended up stealing a Lykan Hypersport, itself also a very rare sports car with only 7 units produced.]]
** In ''Furious 6'', various characters over the course of the film refer to Hobbs as different members of ''Film/{{The Avengers|2012}}''. Come 2014, and Hobbs' actor has been cast in a superhero film, [[Franchise/DCCinematicUniverse just not a Marvel one]].
*** This also has the knock-on effect of making the Dom[=/=]Hobbs fight from ''Fast Five'' into a Marvel vs. DC brawl, with Diesel voicing Groot in Marvel's ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy''. Who can force them to work together after this? Why, [[Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxyVol2 Ego the Living Planet]] of course!
** There are news of a possible remake of ''Film/BigTroubleInLittleChina'' with Dwayne Johnson as Jack Burton... who was originally played by Creator/KurtRussell, who appears in ''Furious 7'' alongside Johnson. We have the two Jack Burtons on the same movie now!
** When ''Podcast/HowDidThisGetMade'' covered ''Furious 7'' live in 2015, there were some pretty prescient suggestions made for the next film, such as Charlize Theron joining the cast, and an audience member suggestion that [[spoiler:Helen Mirren play the mother of the Shaw Brothers]] - both of which actually happened.
** The famous chase scene from ''Tokyo Drift'' where racers speeding through crowded intersection and peds gives way for the racers [[https://www.facebook.com/nhkworld/videos/1801261296587285/ has becomes reality]].
* HomegrownHero: ''Fast Five'' is set entirely in Brazil, is almost exclusively a clash of American gangsters and American cops - both sides have exactly one important non-American character in their midst.

* InferredHolocaust: A lot of the cars that [[spoiler:Cipher hacks and uses as remote controlled battering rams in New York City]] had people in them.

* JustHereForGodzilla:
** Or rather "just here for the cars, the hot women and the nonstop action".
** A lot of people saw ''Furious 7'' simply to see how Paul Walker's role and sendoff would be handled.

** Daddy's gotta go to work.
** "See You Again" has already become a staple song for memorializing someone who has passed away much in the vein of "Amazing Grace" or "I'll Be Missing You". For example, it was used in a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udX3s-CHKRY meme]] paying tribute to [[spoiler: Glenn Rhee on ''Series/TheWalkingDead'' when it appeared he had died in Season 6]], or more comically, in at least one [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1aYXPw6iUQ Vine]] memorializing Harambe the gorilla in summer 2016.
** The [[OddlyNamedSequel2ElectricBoogaloo laughably stupid title]] of ''2 Fast 2 Furious'' had made ''2 X 2 Y'' into a title meme, with X and Y being whatever one wants.
** Jah's quote in ''6'', "Hantam mereka," (roughly translated to "Hit them (with your car)" or "Do them in") is this among Indonesian audiences.
** Playing the Tokyo Drift theme song when anything remotely resembling a drift is on screen.

* {{Narm}}:
** A lot of the dialogue in the second movie during the first race between the drivers, especially Suki's.
** Some stunts in the sixth movie are hilariously over the top, even for this franchise. It's hard to hold laughter when Dom [[spoiler:crashes his car on the one side of the bridge so he can propel himself into the air to catch Letty, who just fell from the tank that flipped over. Not only Dom grabs Letty in mid-air but manages to change her trajectory so they both land on some car that just happened to be there. Of course neither of them are hurt.]]
** In ''7'', an emotionally-charged climactic scene is somewhat marred by the reveal in a flashback that Dom wore his standard white wifebeater shirt during his wedding ceremony with Letty (who is dressed up nicely).
** Creator/RondaRousey might get a badass fighting scene in the film, but many agree that when it came for her to say actual dialogue and act that she had a bad case of DullSurprise.
** The airport at the end of ''6''. Just how long has the damn landing track to be to allow for such a long battle while the plane takes off? Why would the plane need such a long takeoff run, anyway?
** Vin Diesel's constant turning around in a badass way can get silly after a while.
** The title of the 8th installment is ''The Fate of the Furious''. It's physically impossible to think of [[LightNovel/FateZero Saber jousting on a motorcycle]] or [[Franchise/LyricalNanoha Fate Testarossa]] driving an actual Ferrari Testarossa.
** Creator/JasonStatham's antics while [[spoiler:rescuing Brian Toretto]] in the 8th film. Endearing as they might be, they produce a good dose of MoodWhiplash and never stop feeling like an extended OutOfCharacterMoment.
* NarmCharm: At times, the series can be so utterly ridiculous that it's hard not to enjoy it. Case in point: during the climax of ''7'', Hobbs is laid up in the hospital in a cast, but decides to leave to help the crew. He breaks off the cast by ''flexing his muscles'', complete with a one-liner to his daughter. "Daddy's gotta go to work."
* NightmareFuel:
** In ''2 Fast 2 Furious'', a guy in a red Mustang trying out to be a henchman for Verone's operation gets crushed under an semi-truck and then the car chassis causes a grey Corvette to crash; and it was a total accident that came out of ''nowhere''. Imagine how much thist thing happens in a universe like this...
** The scene where Verone has a corrupt cop give him a 15-minute window for the movement of his money by torturing him by heating up a metal bucket with a ''live rat'' that will borrow into the cop's body if the bucket is heated long enough; thank God, it doesn't happen, but Verone threatens to do that to his family if he doesn't.
** From ''Fate'', a limo containing a Russian diplomat speeds around a corner, followed by [[spoiler:''hundreds of remotely-controlled cars'', clogging the streets of New York like a flood.]]
** From the same film, Cipher's monologue about her motivations to [[spoiler:steal the Russian nuclear football]], comparing herself to "the crocodile by the watering hole."
* OneSceneWonder:
** The shotgun-toting truck driver in the first film who successfully fights off the gang.
** [[spoiler: Jason Statham's appearance during the post credits in the sixth film.]]

* RetroactiveRecognition: Toku fans may recognize [[Series/PrettyGuardianSailorMoon Sailor Mars]], Series/LionMaruG and [[Series/KamenRiderKabuto Kamen Rider Ketaros]] in ''Tokyo Drift''.
* {{Sequelitis}}: ''2 Fast 2 Furious'' is widely regarded to be the worst film in the series by some distance, and often consigned to FanonDiscontinuity status by fans. ''Tokyo Drift'', while not nearly as hated as the previous film, tends to be seen as the most forgettable entry in the series.

* SpecialEffectFailure: It's pretty obvious in the first four films when CGI is used for the cars. The fifth and sixth films are ''much'' less obvious about it.
** The best (worst?) examples of this are the race at the beginning of ''Film/TwoFastTwoFurious'' and the tanker heist in the fourth film.
* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter:
** Deckard Shaw, played by a certified badass Creator/JasonStatham in his most PlayingAgainstType role yet, seems to be kind of a let down in the seventh movie. Yes, he has his badassery moments like tearing down half of a hospital [[spoiler: just to see his brother]], injuring Hobbs and [[spoiler: killing Han and [[MakeItLookLikeAnAccident making it to look like an accident]],]] all before going after Dom's crew. But after [[spoiler: Mose Jakande, the movie's ''other'' BigBad shows up,]] he gets sidelined into showing up for a couple scenes during each conflict Dom's crew got themselves into, [[spoiler: and the last act ultimately turns out to be mainly about Jakande's mercenaries, with Deckard just going after Dom and him alone without caring that his other friends are also equally responsible for crippling his brother.]] Sure, he gets his chance to shine in the movie, but after all that build up in the trailers as the ultimate badass out for Dom's crew's blood, seeing him got sidelined by [[spoiler: Jakande, who doesn't even show up in any trailer]], may put off some viewers. At least at the end of the movie [[spoiler: Deckard is still alive, while Jakande isn't, paving the way for him and his brother to return in the sequel and even [[HeelFaceTurn redeem themselves]].]]
** Cipher is played by Charlize Theron who is on a roll as an action hero. The trailers show her in full military gear. [[spoiler: She spends the entire movie pressing buttons on her undetectable plane and never participates directly in the action at any point.]]
** Hobbs rides the line on this trope in 7, going somewhat OutOfFocus for a large chunk of the film. His contributions are still awesome and vital enough to justify his high billing, though.
* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: 7 would have been the perfect time to tie ''Film/BetterLuckTomorrow'' into the main series and strengthen ''Tokyo Drift's'' connection to the rest of the series, but the events of ''Tokyo Drift'' barely get a mention and nothing in ''Better Luck Tomorrow'' is referenced. This might be accounted for by two changes in direction: Justin Lin not being on board, and of course, [[CharacterOutlivesActor Paul]].
* SugarWiki/VisualEffectsOfAwesome: Would it be tasteless to say that the CGI doubles for the late Paul Walker in ''Furious 7'' are actually quite good?
* VindicatedByHistory: Somewhat with ''2 Fast 2 Furious''. Though still considered a weak entry, its reputation has grown a bit over a few years mostly because of the tragic death of Paul Walker. It has caused some fans to look back at it a bit more fondly than when it was first released. Not to mention, many find it as a great intro for Roman who has become a big part in the franchise.