10 Times Changing The Tone Saved Movie Franchises

There are only so many films you could do about street racing before the series starts to run out of gas (pun intended). Yes, the first 3 films in the franchise are enjoyable, but it was only a matter of time until the laid back, small-scale approach came up empty.

So by the time the fourth one came around, the powers that be decided to dip their toe in the action-heavy water, featuring some more elaborate set-pieces while still keeping it in the pocket as, primarily, a racing film. When this appeared the work, the studio took this up a few gears by essentially making a heist film with increasingly ridiculous action scenes, complete with characters going through walls and a massive safe being used as a weapon.

It might have seemed a big ask for audiences to suspend their disbelief to that scale, but they were more than willing to take that leap. The introduction of The Rock's Hobbs factored in that massively, because as corny as it now was, it also had charm and charisma in spades. It's like everyone involved just focussed on making the most fun film possible, setting a standard for its successors to surpass.