Fast X review

FAST X: 

TENTH FAST & FURIOUS MOVIE GIVES WHAT IT PROMISES! 

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: *** out of 4

UNIVERSAL PICTURES

Vin Diesel, Charlize Theron, Jason Momoa, and the rest in Fast X

 

            Vin Diesel (Riddick trilogy, XXX 1 and 3, Marvel Cinematic Universe) and his family of street racers are back in Fast X, the tenth main installment and eleventh overall of the long-running Fast & Furious film series dating all the way back to 2001. It’s quite impressive how far the series has come since the first film where it started out as a movie about street racing and by the ninth movie you have cars with super magnets and Tyrese Gibson and Ludacris going up into space. 

            I won’t waste too much time giving my thoughts on the earlier films as I’ve already done that in my other reviews, so I’ll put it blunt and simple. First one I like fine, 2 Fast 2 Furious and Tokyo Drift are the worst, Fast & Furious (4) is okay, Fast Five-Furious 7 are really good, Fate of the Furious is okay, and F9 is pure lunacy and I love it for that exact reason despite some major flaws. 

            During Fast X’s development, I was sort of scoffing at the idea of a tenth Fast & Furious movie because the last one literally involved going into space, where do you go from there? There’s really nowhere else you can go in a movie series after it goes into space, just look at Jason X and Moonraker. 

            But at the same time, even the worst Fast & Furious films have some likability with the cast and the action is usually exhilarating with each film often trying to top the last, much like the Mission: Impossible film series. Fast X comes to us from director Louis Letterier (The Transporter 1 and 2, The Incredible Hulk, Now You See Me) with series veteran Justin Lin (Better Luck Tomorrow, Annapolis, Star Trek Beyond), who directed 4-6 and F9 as a producer and the original cast returning (Duh!). 

            So, does Fast X find a way to top F9’s space sequence? No, but I don’t care because I still had a fun time. I do think this film is somewhat better than the last movie, but it is extremely silly and completely absurd throughout. 

            The film follows former criminal and professional street racer Dominic “Dom” Toretto (Diesel) now retired and is settling down with his wife Letty (Michelle Rodriguez-Avatar, Machete 1 and 2, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves) and son Brian “Little B”. But when an unexpected visitor comes in the form of a wounded Cipher (Charlize Theron-Monster, Mad Max: Fury Road, Atomic Blonde) who warns Dom and Letty about a new threat known as Dante Reyes (Jason Momoa-Game of Thrones, DC Extended Universe, Dune (2021)), the son of drug lord Hernan Reyes (Joaquim de Almeida-Clear and Present Danger, Desperado, Missing) from Fast Five out for revenge on Dom for his father’s death, Dom and his team hop back into the driver’s seats to stop Dante’s wrath before he shatters Dom’s family and destroys everything he loves, forever. 

             The film also stars Tyrese Gibson (Four Brothers, Transformers franchise, Death Race) reprising his role as ex-habitual offender Roman Pearce, Chris “Ludacris” Bridges (Crash, Hustle & Flow, No Strings Attached) reprising his role as tech expert and mechanic Tej Parker, John Cena (The Marine, Bumblebee, Peacemaker) reprising his role from F9 as Dom’s brother Jakob Toretto, Nathalie Emmanuel (Maze Runner 2 and 3, Army of Thieves, The Invitation) reprising her role as computer hacktivist Ramsey, Jordana Brewster (The Faculty, Annapolis, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning) reprising her role as Dom and Jakob’s sister Mia Toretto, Sung Kang (Better Luck Tomorrow, War, Power) reprising his role as expert drifter Han Lue, Scott Eastwood (Flags of our Fathers, Gran Torino, Suicide Squad) as Little Nobody, Alan Ritchson (Smallville, Titans, Reacher) as the new leader of Mr. Nobody’s agency Aimes, Daniela Melchior (The Suicide Squad, Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 3) as Isabel Neves, Helen Mirren (The Queen, RED 1 and 2, Shazam! Fury of the Gods) reprising her role as Owen and Deckard Shaw’s mother Queenie, Brie Larson (Scott Pilgrim VS the World, Room, Marvel Cinematic Universe) as Mr. Nobody’s daughter Tess, Jason Statham (The Transporter trilogy, Crank 1 and 2, The Bank Job) reprising his role as former nemesis turned teammate Deckard Shaw, and Rita Moreno (Singin’ in the Rain, West Side Story, 80 for Brady) as Dom, Jakob, and Mia’s mother Abuelita Toretto. 

            Overall, Fast X gives exactly what it advertises, another gleefully over-the-top and utterly ridiculous Fast & Furious sequel that embraces its silliness and it doesn’t really try to go anywhere beyond that. There’s no space in this movie so it’s already somewhat more grounded than the last, but still, some of these action sequences are so farfetched that it’s almost impossible to believe that all this began with street racing. 

            Despite the absurdity of the action, the majority of it is fantastic and keeps the adrenaline pumping with some of the best being a high-speed chase through the streets of Rome with a bomb the size of a wrecking ball in the beginning and this insane and unapologetically silly chase on a freeway involving John Cena driving a car with giant cannons attached to it and Vin Diesel’s car getting grappled onto by helicopters and using Nos to boost thus causing the helicopters to collide with each other and explode in mid-air. Yeah, it gets pretty crazy, and I have to give it to the filmmakers for continuously coming up with new and creative ways to excel the action even further with each installment. 

            Ridiculous action aside, I did find myself getting invested in the scenes involving Dom and his son, there are some genuinely heartfelt moments between the two even with all the chaos going on in the rest of the movie and Vin Diesel effectively sells the dramatic scenes. It also makes it clear that a tough guy like Dom does have vulnerabilities and fears which adds a sense of humanity to an otherwise practically invincible character. 

            Let’s talk about Jason Momoa as the villain, this is probably the craziest I’ve ever seen Momoa in anything and he is having a ball as this eccentric, completely psychotic, and downright cartoonish bad guy who could potentially put any previous Joker to shame. He is chewing the scenery in every scene he’s in, dancing, laughing maniacally, and he even paints the nails of dead corpses…I’m not making that last one up, by the way! 

            The screenplay however is very overstuffed with five different plots happening at once and characters are split up in different groups throughout most of the movie so you don’t really get as much “Family Time” as you would in the other films. Sort of like Avengers: Infinity War the more I think about it even right down to a similar ending.

            Flaws aside, I still had a fun time with Fast X even though it’s definitely not the best in the series. But if you’re a fan of the series or just looking for a dumb fun summer movie, strap in and enjoy the ride.