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The six chapters that comprise the Fast & Furious franchise thus far (a seventh is due for release in April 2015) are not complicated films Their forcefulness is brutish, masculine, needlessly violent, and frequently uproarious They are at times wildly sexist They are targeted directly at – and appeal to – a generation of culturally confused middle-class, middle-America, middle-of-the-road young men They are the sort of movies you expect them to be, and despite the fact that you probably haven’t seen them, you are right to suppose the majority of what you do You might have written them off as crass, rococo Hollywood offerings undeserving of the attention of discerning adults You would be largely correct in assuming that the films contain outrageous stunts and implausible plotlines; dialogue and acting as flat and as unpalatable as the Dead Sea Despite all this, they are the most profitable franchise in the history of Universal Studios; the most recent film, FF6[1], took $789m at the box office last year, and Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson became 2013’s highest grossing Hollywood actor While it was at first unclear whether the films were planned as a franchise – although it must have been devoutly wished – it is now unclear if or when they will ever stop Despite the sad – and darkly ironic – demise of one of the movies’ main stars, Paul Walker (he died after he and a friend crashed a Porsche Carrera GT at high speed in a 45mph zone), Universal have signaled that they intend to continue filming with FF7, and have since brought in Walker’s brother to continue in his stead   Working on the assumption that the majority of The White Review readers are not up to speed on the series’ elaborate plotline, I’m going to offer a brief rundown FF1, which was released in 2001, saw Walker’s acting breakthrough as LAPD cop Brian O’Conner Working undercover attempting to infiltrate an illegal street-racing scene in LA, he begins to frequent a diner that he knows to be a hub of just this sort of activity While there,