The reason Vin Diesel’s Dom Toretto changed so much between movies explains why Fast and Furious feels so different now

Fast & Furious is undeniably one of the most iconic and successful action franchises of the last few decades, but just like the characters themselves, the style and aesthetics of movies have been on a big journey over the years. While The fast and the furious Was a fairly grounded story about a group of car thieves who were infiltrated by an undercover cop, the franchise’s increased budget soon turned the stories into bigger, bolder tales of international terrorism and espionage. Not surprisingly, the character of Dom Toretto also changed dramatically in the same way.

The gradual transition from a grounded thriller to an all-out action spectacle is both Fast & Furious‘ Greatest strength and his heaviest curse. There’s no way the series could have continued for over 20 years with such low-stakes storytelling as The fast and the furiousBut the increased focus on action and intense car stunts is also detrimental to the overall quality of the stories. with Quick 11 Set to complete the saga, The Fast & Furious Movies are in a completely different place now – just like their protagonist Dominic Toretto.

Dominic Toretto had to change to keep up with Fast & Furious’ New Style

The old character never could have existed in Fast X

The reason Toretto’s character had to change so dramatically is because the films were doing the same thing: it wouldn’t make sense for the later sequels to have such a grounded protagonist when their stories were so outlandish. The dome of The fast and the furious would never have found themselves involved in government espionage and vendettas with deadly crime families – so The writers had to change the character’s values In order to make his presence in the stories more logical.

Dom became stronger, more stoic and more traditional.”Good“ When he returned to the franchise in the fourth movie. He was not the morally ambiguous protagonist that was present in the first film, but rather someone who completely shunned his criminal background and completely took the good fight. Much of this was due to the franchise’s closer focus on Dom Toretto’s family, which helped humanize the protagonist and give him reasons to fight for their protection when the threats became bigger and more deadly.

Dom’s character became as unrealistic as the fast and furious movies he was in

The original Dom was never such a hero

the word “Unrealistic” is thrown around a lot in reference to the later Fast & Furious Sequels, with many audiences believing the franchise has lost its way. And it’s true that films like F9 And Quick X sometimes go too far with their extraordinary stunts (like sending a car into space or swinging one across a huge canyon), but this is simply a result of Each subsequent sequel needs to top the last.

The franchise has cursed itself with creating a tradition of getting bigger, bolder and taller with each passing film, and this was reflected in Dam’s character doing the same. In each new sequel, Dom seems to be increasingly honest, courageous, and selflesswhich resulted in a character essentially a parody of the Dom Toretto of The fast and the furious. All of his moral complexity is gone, replaced instead by a hero who can simply do no wrong. Dom has almost become superhuman, and his infallibility makes his most intense stunts less exciting.

Strangely enough, Paul Walker’s Brian did not change as much as Dom Toretto

Their dynamic was fast and furious ‘saving grace’

Interestingly, it was only Dom’s character that underwent this massive change throughout the series. Those around him remained somewhat grounded and conceivably complex as the sequels progressed, while This moved further and further away from the qualities that made him interesting in the first film.. Most notably, it was Brian O’Connor who remained the most consistent throughout the franchise; His moral conflict between legality and his inherent love for racing made him a fascinating character to watch and cemented him as a perfect foil for Dom.

After Brian’s emotional ending in Furious 7There was no one to tame Dom’s ego and keep his character completely grounded anymore – and this is where the franchise encountered big problems. The friendship between Dom and Brian has been the driving force of the series since the beginning, and without that dynamic to keep it fresh, the Fast & Furious Films quickly lost sight of their true purpose and simply shifted their focus to creating the biggest stunts possible. Letty fulfills a similar role in keeping Dom in check, but her character has also become much less rounded in recent films.