9. Fast And Furious 7
Ive never really seen the greatness in the newly rejuvenated The Fast And The Furious (now simply Fast) franchise. Theyre fun, but boy are they dumb. Yet theyre somehow a critics darling. I guess its like the ugly duckling turning into a regular duck; its sort of what it should have been anyway, but its a lot better than we originally thought. In theory the seventh should amp up the action and silliness even more.
Why it could be rubbish: Theres one change and one change alone that will not only ruin this film, but the whole franchise; they've changed director. Despite directing the rather typical third and fourth, Justin Lin was responsible for turning the franchise around with its fifth and sixth instalments, smartly playing up the elements that worked and avoiding those that didn't. Its understandable hes leaving four films is a long time with one franchise but it led to some of the most uninspired hirings of recent memory. James Wan, the man who brought us the first Saw, The Conjuring and the Insidious duology is directing Fast Seven. Thats right, a director whos most accomplished car chase is shaking Danny Glover to imitate speed at the end of Saw will be taking on a franchise that has dominated that niche for the past decade. Putting an untested director in such a specific film rarely works look a Joseph Kosinski with sci-fi and I think whatever greatness was achieved previously will be undone by a man whose prime interest is clearly horror.