15 Highest Grossing Movies Of The Decade: Ranked Worst To Best

11. Furious 7

Worldwide Box Office: $1.516 billion

All-Time Ranking: #6

2010s Ranking: #4

In decades past blockbuster franchises followed a very rigid trajectory - after a successful first instalment there'd be a few rushed out sequels that had linearly decreasing quality and profits before just petering out into nothingness. There were exceptions (Bond, Star Wars), but otherwise it was a hard-fast rule - it's the exact gameplan Superman, Planet Of The Apes and Batman all worked to.

Fast And Furious at first seemed to follow this to a T, with a "successful" first entry leading to two cack sequels, but then something happened around the time of the fourth film that saw the whole thing switch gear and reverse. Since Fast Five, not coincidentally the movie that introduced The Rock to the franchise, things have only got bigger for Dominic Torretto and co., with an embracing of the innate silliness and increased focus on stunts leading to greater critical plaudits and a sharp increase in box office.

But even considering that u-turn the mega-success of Furious 7 - trouncing the box office and giving 2015's big hitters a run for their money - was a surprise. Not least because it's the weakest the series has been since it got good. Outside of a few moments of pure spectacle - cars jumping between skyscrapers, cars falling out of planes, cars jousting - the the film itself lacks real edge. It's too glossy, with CGI taking prevalence over stunts in many places, and the story of "family" remaining as flat as ever.