The previous installment of the Fast And Furious franchise completely gave up on the street-racing theme of the first four Fast And Furious films, and took a sharp right into James Bond lane. Spanning multiple locations and an elaborate heist involving guns, cars, and muscles, it took the heady mixture of stupid and fun action that the series is known for, and went hard on the fun action. Add to that the charismatic Dwayne Johnson, and things were finally looking up for a series world renowned for not making sense.
Clearly, the last film must have been an eye-opener for director....