海角大神

As 鈥淔urious 7鈥� comes to movie theaters tomorrow, you may be looking at that number and thinking, 鈥淪even?鈥�

But that鈥檚 the number of films the action movie series has reached. Beginning with 鈥淭he Fast and the Furious鈥� in 2001, the movie series stars actors Vin Diesel, Paul Walker (who died during the filming of 鈥�7鈥� and will be making his last appearance in the film), Jordana Brewster, Michelle Rodriguez, and other actors who have popped up for one or more films, including Dwayne Johnson, Eva Mendes, Ludacris, and, in the new film, Jason Statham. The series centers on car racing and crimes committed by members of the group 鈥� Walker鈥檚 character Brian O鈥機onner began the first film as an undercover law enforcement officer who later joins the crew.

The movie series has been phenomenally successful. Releasing a seventh movie in a series is matched only by other box office titans like James Bond and the 鈥淗arry Potter鈥� series as well as some franchises like 鈥淪tar Trek鈥� and 鈥淴-Men鈥� that have needed to reboot themselves or bring on new cast members. The 鈥淔ast鈥� series has done some of that, but many stars, like Diesel and Walker, have appeared in most of the films.聽

For the most part, the 鈥淔ast鈥� movies have only done better at the box office as time goes on. 鈥淔ast & Furious 6鈥� was the ninth-highest-grossing movie of 2013, according to the website , while 鈥淔ast Five鈥� did even better, becoming the sixth-highest-grossing movie of 2011. By comparison, 鈥淔ast & Furious,鈥� the 2009 fourth movie, placed seventeenth for the year, while the second movie 鈥�2 Fast 2 Furious,鈥� which did not have Diesel or many other of the original cast members, and the third movie 鈥淭he Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift,鈥� which centered on other characters, came in fifteenth and forty-sixth, respectively.

The first movie, at least, wasn鈥檛 well-received by critics when it first came out 鈥� it currently holds a score of 58 out of 100 on the review aggregator website and Monitor staff wrote of the film, 鈥淲hat has to go? Well, plot and characterization, but you'll be too busy tapping your feet and gripping your seat to notice鈥� did I mention there are a lot of neat car chases?鈥澛�

So what makes the film series so successful? It鈥檚 not reviews from critics 鈥� 鈥淔urious 7鈥� has the highest Metacritic score of any of the movies so far 鈥� it currently holds a 71 out of 100. But that last part mentioned by Monitor staff certainly helps 鈥� some moviegoers will always want to see fast cars and fights between the leads.聽

As for other appeal, Diesel told in a recent interview that he thinks the diverse cast also appeals to moviegoers, a topic that鈥檚 still at the forefront of conversation in Hollywood after a noticeable lack of diversity among last year鈥檚 Oscars nominees.聽

鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 matter what nationality you are,鈥� he said. 鈥淎s a member of the audience, you realize you can be a member of that 鈥榝amily.' That鈥檚 the beautiful thing about how the franchise has evolved.鈥澛�

Rodriguez agreed in an interview with .

鈥淚 think it has a lot to do with the multicultural cast,鈥� she said of the series鈥� appeal. 鈥淧eople in this country 鈥� or in Spain, in Africa, in Asia 鈥� they can buy a ticket and see somebody who looks like them, and someone who isn't necessarily a stereotype but an individual, a character who's kind of blue-collar but also in this heroic position. It's still pretty rare to have characters like that you can identify with.鈥�