In honesty, they stole the words straight from my mouth. Although I had a hard time restraining my laughter thinking about my respectively elderly friends when Vin Diesel took off his shirt to reveal his gloriously manufactured abs, I had to completely agree that the series’ success was mostly based on the tight character development that drives the somewhat repetitive plot line. It reminds you of the stunts you wish you could do and initiates you straight into the badass family code. What a gorgeous family to be a part of, right? But the familial ties go much deeper than sharing a street number. The writers have made it very clear that while the jobs have become increasingly illegal and now involving the blurred lines of the FBI, honor comes before money and protecting your own is more than just being good or evil.

And the hairpin turns are not just for the cars. I always seem to find myself on the edge of my seat wondering if someone will die, resurface, or even both. As for what should have been the mantra of the entire series, “Some things you just have to take on faith.” While this movie is a guilty pleasure as the day is long, there is no denying that it deserves a four out of five stars. As a hardly relatable white girl, there is still no doubt that I will shell out time and money to jam uncoordinatedly to the “get rich or die tryin’” rap theme song and see just who will leave an impressive car track in my mind.

However, unlike the director of the first two films, Jon Favreau, Black used his opportunity to focus new character development on that of the ever-so-sleek and cocky Tony Stark. Abandoning the confidence that Iron Man is classically defined as, we are given a harsh look at the impact that having a superhero stardom life can have. Are these players perhaps normal after all? Their emotions certainly suggest so. With Tony being introduced to the reality of anxiety attacks and his inability to decipher who should be saved first (himself or his beloved Pepper), there is a major play between the reflexes of the heart and mind. Even as a co-writer along with Drew Pearce (who not so shabbily obtained the credits for the third Sherlock Holmes film), Black sneakily parallels these struggles with the ever-so-popular British television series, Downton Abbey. As an obvious foreshadowing of the politics of relationships within the corporate superhero world, it is these few surprises that provide menial gratification and ultimately slow the overall development of the story.

Of course, the plot took some intriguing twists at the end that even had me impressed but quickly digressed with an extremely old school Hawaii 5-0, comic book cheese that resulted in an eye-roll when the villain concludes with a “I will be back or this is not over” mentality. I give this movie two out of five stars because it wasn’t a complete bust but at the same time, its potential was not even close to being met. But this is a significant downside to switching directors, mid-series. We just can’t all be Harry Potters.