The Fast and Furious franchise began in 2001, and has had car chases, explosions and some wacky stunts. The early years of the franchise kept to the street-racing side of things, but gradually the films have descended into madness.
Charlize Theron as Cipher / Picture Credit: Universal Pictures
While we agree that if every film was as realistic as can be the cinemas would be empty, but there is a fine line between what humans can do and superhero movies. Many fans argue that the Fast and Furious franchise may have crossed that line.
There is nothing to say that the previous two movies (the seventh and eighth) are bad in any way, they just seem to be veering off the beaten track.
The fist movie, The Fast and The Furious from 2001 saw Brian O’Conner (Paul Walker) go undercover in Dominic Toretto’s (Vin Diesel) crew to confirm speculation that they are stealing TVs and other electronics.
This movie really had heart and as Brian and Dom got closer, we as viewers saw a brotherly connection that proceeded to span several films, until Walker’s untimely death in the middle of filming the seventh movie.
Something that these films did well, was create a somewhat loveable villain. Luke Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) made his debut in Fast and Furious 7, as the man tracking down Dom and his team; however, he decided to join the crew in facing off against Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham), the man who killed one of Dom’s friends.
Statham played his villain brilliantly; a calculated and calm man with a rugged and dangerous demeanour who could throw a punch and face up to the likes of Hobbs and Dom.
When The Fate of The Furious (the eighth instalment) came about in 2017, the movie introduced a baddie that would stick in the mind of well, no one.
Charlize Theron debuted her villainous cyberterrorist Cipher in this movie, and while her plans made her a somewhat decent foe for Dom and his crew, the character herself wasn’t really that memorable.
Cipher kidnapped Dom’s son, who he had no idea existed, along with Elena (Elsa Pataky). She then told Dom to go against his own team (who he considers family) in order for her not to kill his son.
Theron’s Cipher was a rather irritating character, let’s be honest; she had a bizarre set of dreadlocks, and spoke in a whisper every time she said anything. Her almost cocky bravado wasn’t anything to behold, as it simply made her seem like she had no control so she had to muster up some confidence to get it across that she was in charge.
Her plans to hijack a submarine and incite a nuclear war was rather solid, and the way she wipes her presence of the internet every few seconds is also rather clever; but the issue was never with her ideas, it was with her character.
Sadly, Theron just didn’t grab the attention of anyone watching the film. Her character was so dull and definitely had no one thinking a spin-off would be a good idea.
However, this potential spin-off doesn’t come at the want of fans; it may be no surprise whatsoever than Diesel himself headed up the writers room and asked them to create a solo movie for Cipher...
The actor’s pride and joy is definitely this franchise, as he calls each film a chapter, and the franchise as a whole a saga. He is genuinely the only person taking these films seriously anymore.
While we can’t argue that these movies are fun to watch and expel more laughs out of viewers than they should, but a spin-off about a barely half-decent villain with a terrible haircut would really tug all the other movies downhill.
Despite her baby-snatching and plans for nuclear war, Cipher was just a let down. She barely commanded authority and couldn’t even hijack a sub without dragging the most notorious international criminals into it...
Hobbs & Shaw (2019) is a great example of a spin-off done right; both characters disliked each other so much that their insults turned into humour and rather comedic threats. Not only that, but fans actually wanted to see these characters reunite; no one wants to see Cipher in a potential origin story as she just didn’t dominate the screen the way a villain should.
Despite Shaw being a brilliant character, however, he isn’t a villain anymore. He is so likeable and a joy to watch on screen that his biggest crime, killing Han (Sung Kang) is overlooked by many characters.
If Cipher were to get her own movie, she would most likely be shown in a somewhat positive light, taking any villainous credibility she had left away from her character.
In the end, a film focused on a villain who seems to get everyone to do the work for her would not go down well. It seems that someone needs to tell Vin Diesel that this film would be a really bad idea.
Written by Melissa, who you can follow on Twitter @melissajournal
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Tagged in Charlize Theron Vin Diesel