Entertainment

Thank God the lobotomized ‘Fast & Furious’ franchise is ending

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“Furious”? 

I’m elated! “Riding in Cars With Buffoons” is finally coming to an end.

Over the weekend, an Instagram post from actor Vin Diesel heavily suggested that the next “Fast & Furious” film, said to be called “Fast X: Part 2,” will be the last hurrah for the 23-year-old franchise. 

“Just finished our end of the week Fast meeting with the writers and the whole team,” Diesel wrote. “To say the excitement for our finale was incredibly powerful is an understatement. Wow. So exciting.”

Say more, Vin.

“This grand finale is not just an ending; it’s a celebration of the incredible family we’ve built together.”

Ending? Finale? Sounds done to me!

It’s about damn time. This preposterous two-decadeslong road trip has been creaking along since the George W. Bush administration.

“The Fast and the Furious” hit theaters back in 2001 with “Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring” and “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.” The world has changed. Daniel Radcliffe is now a 34-year-old father who stars in Broadway musicals.

Of course, it would be one thing if “Fast” regularly upped its game and cunningly reinvented itself like fellow long-running action series such as the James Bond films and “Mission: Impossible” successfully have. 

The “Fast & Furious” film franchise began 23 years ago — during the George W. Bush administration. AP

But “Fast” has the same number of brain cells left as a guy who spends entire days huffing paint. These have become unwatchable movies.

Universal has not officially confirmed that “Fast X: Part 2” will be curtains for the main franchise — although the tagline of “Fast X” was “The last ride” — and the movie is currently planned for release in April 2025. 

There has even been talk that the last story could be split into a merciless three films, such is the intricacy and sophistication of the plot. 

Diesel (left) called the upcoming movie, out in 2025, the series’ “grand finale.” ©Universal/Courtesy Everett Collection

We’ve also still got spinoffs such as a possible “Hobbs & Shaw 2,” starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Jason Statham. And an all-female “Fast” flick is said to be in the works.

But slamming the door on Dom, Letty and, uh, all those other nimrods is, at least, a start.

At a moment when a staggering number of moronic, nearly identical movies are being churned out by Hollywood, the “Fast” films have achieved the impressive feat of staying among the very dumbest.

In “Fast X,” Dominic (Vin Diesel, right) chased a preposterous rolling bomb through Rome, Italy. ©Universal/Courtesy Everett Collection

Lately the idiocy has gotten out of hand.

In “F9” Ludacris and Tyrese Gibson strapped a rocket on a Pontiac Fiero and drove it into outer space. They ate snacks up there.

And who can forget the “Fast X” chase where Dom pursued a spherical bomb through Rome that, despite not being remote-controlled, made crisp turns and rolled for minutes on end.

Yet more cringey though is how exhausted these actors all obviously are. These aren’t shiny new action stars anymore. Diesel, 56, Michelle Rodriguez, 45, and John Cena, 46, act like the dude in the “Time to make the donuts” commercial.

Really, the whole “Fast & Furious” enterprise should have stopped when star Paul Walker died in 2013, after the making of 2015’s “Furious 7.” But no. Instead, Helen Mirren hopped aboard to do a weird cockney accent.

“Fast X” villain Dante Reyes, played by a squealing Jason Momoa, said, “The days where a man behind the wheel of a car could make a difference are over.”

This psychopathic killer actually makes a lot of sense.



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