For a long time, I regarded the Fast & Furious franchise as beneath me. The movies appeared to be nothing more than a series of vapid car commercials and, not being much of a car guy, there was really no appeal. But during the pandemic, I got pressured into watching the first one and found myself enjoying it. Before I knew it, I’d watched every installment and couldn’t wait for the next one.

Including the Hobbs & Shaw spinoff movie, there have been 11 Fast & Furious films to date, and a 12th and final one is on the way. While all of them have their moments, Fast Five, still remains the best for the way it repositioned the franchise, the way it used all the best characters (including Paul Walker), and the way its largely practical effects really take you along for the ride. Even better, it's streaming on Netflix (along with most of the franchise) as of Aug. 1

Before Fast Five, the Fast & Furious movies were all about street racing. Vin Diesel’s Dominic Toretto was an illegal street racer and the other characters were his friends, family, and rivals. Paul Walker began as an LAPD officer who’d gone undercover to infiltrate the illegal streetracing scene. But then Walker’s character, Brian O'Conner, realized this street racing thing was pretty cool, and he fell in love with Dom’s sister, Mia (Jordana Brewster). So he becomes a street racer himself. (Brian later becomes an FBI agent, then goes bad again. Fast Five picks up after that second time.)

Fast Five was the first movie in the franchise not to focus........

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