Fast and Furious

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

The Han Effect in Fast Five

Fast Five featured Han as a major character. How can Han die in Tokyo Drift and still be alive to play in Fast Five?


image credit: fanpop.com

Fast Five is redlining at the box office. The movie is expected to battle Thor for box office supremacy. There is confusion with the Fast Five plot. How in the world is Han reincarnated from the dead to play in Fast Five?

We're seeing another plot device at work, such as what was employed in Pulp Fiction. Moviegoers see John Travolta die, but then he resurfaces again later in the film. Writers tend to use plot techniques to add depth to a film. You will find moments when a movie weaves in and out of time and space. What is going on with the Han effect?

The first two Fast and the Furious movies are based on Paul Walker's character. Whereas Vin appears as the main character in the first film, it is Paul that is the main character. Essentially, the Fast and the Furious producers probably didn't realize there would be demand for Fast and the Furious films past the sequel. Nonetheless, Tokyo Drift added another dimension to the FF movie franchise. Han is a major character in Tokyo Drift.

Moviegoers see Han die in an explosion. Now Han appears in the next two movies after Tokyo Drift. How? Fast and Furious 4 and Fast Five predates the Tokyo Drift plot. Essentially, we're watching another Star Wars plot, where the films explain the backstory to build character relationships. Han's character is really dead.

At the end of Tokyo Drift, Vin mentioned to the Lucas' character that he used to roll with Han The plot in Fast 4 and Fast Five show the backstory in how Vin and company met. Han is dead. However, he is alive in Fast Five because the film is actually in the fourth position in the plot. The Fast and the Furious movie are arranged in sequential order from the first to the fifth, minus Tokyo Drift. Tokyo Drift is the last chapter of the Fast and the Furious franchise.

Han, Brian, Dom, and the rest of the crew roll as a team. Tokyo Drift is fifth in-line in the Fast and the Furious plot. Han dies in Tokyo Drift. The FF plot is assembled in the following order:
  1. The Fast and the Furious (2001)
  2.  2 Fast 2 Furious (2003)
  3.  Fast & Furious (2009)
  4.  Fast Five (2011)
  5.  Fast & Furious 6 (2013)
  6.  The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006)
Han emerges in Fast Five again, which eventually sets up his death in the latter film, Tokyo Drift. Dom escapes to Japan to elude the authorities. When Dom appears at the end of Tokyo Drift, he mentions that Han and him used to roll together.

Franchise films are unable to bring back popular characters without manipulating the plot. Instead of racing forward, the plot must go backwards to maintain continuity. Han is not an astral body in Fast Five. In real time, Han is actually dead. If another Fast and the Furious film is produced, the plot will begin in Japan without Han.


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