Fast and furious? Try slow and sentimental

Fast and Furious Live O2 Arena

Since its inception in 2001, The Fast and Furious franchise has proven indestructible. It continues to break box office records after eight films, the death of leading man Paul Walker, and such an exhaustive history of souped-up vehicles that it took a submarine to incite awe in the series’ most recent instalment.

Now, the $5billion-grossing series has taken to the stage. It has downsized to a live arena show that hopes to replicate the franchise’s unusual blend of car theatrics and syrupy sentimentality. The result?

A lot of going around in circles.

A combination of stunt show and scripted theatre, Fast and Furious Live finds actors Elysia Wren and Mark Ebulué trying their best to inject life into a thin narrative framework involving the pursuit of a supervillain. Divided into episodic training demonstrations, action-set pieces from the franchise’s various instalments are re-created live, apparently to teach the importance of teamwork.

It’s a well-intentioned and wholesome message, but one that sometimes sits uneasily with the show’s gender politics. Fast and Furious leaves all its female stars – bar Wren – voiceless. Instead, they strut around the stage or recline across car bonnets like human set-dressing.

The show’s biggest disappointments are the very things that ought to be its main attractions. Confined to a small arena floor, its vehicular stars dart sluggishly back and forth when they’re moving at all, with rear projection and sound effects deployed to aid the illusion of speed.

As a result Fast and Furious Live often feels like an elaborate if lethargic playground game. The enthusiasm is palpable, but you can practically see the finger-wagging adult standing offstage and instructing everyone to slow down to prevent injury.

Fast and Furious Live is touring Europe, returning to UK cities in April and May; fastandfuriouslive.com