Rita Moreno and Brie Larson will join the burgeoning cast of The Fast Saga in the forthcoming Fast X. The Fast & Furious series cast includes some of the world’s most popular action movie performers, including Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Dwayne Johnson, and Jason Statham.
The Fast and Furious films aren’t the only high-octane action thrillers in which these stars have appeared. Diesel has fronted two other major action movies, The Rock has his own brand, and John Cena went toe-to-toe with an Autobot.
Pitch Black (2000) – Starring Vin Diesel
Vin Diesel played Richard B. Riddick in Pitch Black, an infamous mercenary abandoned on a desert planet while being carried to a space jail. As if being marooned wasn’t horrible enough, Riddick and the other crash landing survivors are besieged by the planet’s carnivorous monsters. Pitch Black, the ideal blend of action, sci-fi, and horror, has gained a cult following in the years after it was scorned by mainstream reviewers.
John Cena stars in Bumblebee (2018).
Bumblebee arrived just when reviewers thought they couldn’t possibly adore a Transformers film. Bumblebee is an E.T.-style coming-of-age story in which a social misfit – excellently portrayed by Hailee Steinfeld – builds a passionate bond with an extraterrestrial who comes on Earth. John Cena portrayed one of the government shooters on Bumblebee’s trail a few years before he played Dom and Mia Toretto’s estranged brother.
Jason Statham in The Transporter (2002)
Jason Statham was one of the world’s top action movie stars even before he played Deckard Shaw in the Fast & Furious trilogy. On the big screen, he’s faced up against everyone from Jet Li to a 75-foot prehistoric shark. Frank Martin, a special operations soldier-turned-outlaw driver in The Transporter series, was his first leading role in a franchise.
The narrative and character development are lacking, but the high-octane action set-pieces make up for it. The Transporter and its prequels are pure popcorn fare.
Dwayne Johnson stars in San Andreas (2015).
Dwayne Johnson has become a franchise unto himself in the years since he took on the character of Luke Hobbs in The Fast and the Furious. There aren’t many actors left who can pull large audiences to their films based only on their participation, but The Rock is one of them. In 2015, he featured in a stunning homage to vintage catastrophe films.
When a major earthquake strikes the West Coast, Johnson plays a helicopter rescue pilot who urgently attempts to save his ex-wife and kid. The visual effects are incredible, and the tale is very heartbreaking.
Gal Gadot stars in Wonder Woman (2017).
Gal Gadot was granted a major role as Diana Prince in the DC Extended Universe after being tragically killed off in the Fast & Furious trilogy. A year after her debut as one of the few highlights of Batman v Superman, Gadot starred her own film to even more critical acclaim.
Patty Jenkins reinvigorated the superhero genre and demonstrated that female-led comic book movies can be major successes with 2017’s Wonder Woman by emphasising honesty over cynicism.