I have no interest in the Fast and the Furious franchise and I usually have little good to say about Bloomberg, but this package of obsessive statistical analysis of the FF franchise is a work of delirious genius.
Really? No F&F fans amused by this?
Not a fan but enjoyed the analysis.
I only saw the first 2 1/2 movies. What surprised/impressed me the most was how the franchise was able to come back and reach new heights. The main star did not return for the 2nd film. The 3rd film was a completely new setting and cast starring child actors. Vin Diesel took an 8 year break (not counting cameos) before most of the original cast reunited for the 4th film, which got negative reviews but made a lot of money. The Rock (and some other notable stars) was added for 5, and it’s just been a cash machine since.
As you watch through these flicks, you slowly realize while they may have started making racing movies, it slowly evolved into full-on superhero movies. In many ways they are more superhero-y than actual, comic book superheroes.
Starting at about the 4th or 5th film, every character is literally invincible, even the dead ones (who were never really dead, but even the actual, IRL dead ones); they routinely defy all known physics; they drive with a prescience that would make Professor X jealous; and their antagonists display all of these traits plus something akin to intellectual omnipotence in their plotting and resources. (And yet at the end of Furious 7, Jason Statham, who to this point has been completely invincible, gets taken out by an 8-foot fall as the garage he and The Rock are fighting on collapses. Seriously?! The Rock escapes unscathed, of course.)
I only ever watched the first movie and find this wonderful all the same.
I’ve watched them all and I thought those stats were very amusing. The only thing they missed was family cook-outs vs restaurant scenes. 
I am totally uninterested in the Fast/Furious films themselves.
I am, however, quite interested in the sort of nerdity that goes into an analysis like this.
The best parts are the little notes.
Lovely article. I thought it was just good, but then I saw the methodology section at the end and I knew it was written by a kindred spirit.
There is a new number one of all time entry for a category I had no idea until now that I cared about. Best Methodology explanation.
Aye; me too. I thought that was awesome to read thru.