Fast X
Year: 2023
Director: Louis Leterrier
Starring: John Cena, Vin Diesel, Nathalie Emmanuel, Tyrese Gibson, Sung Kang, Ludacris, Jason Momoa, Alan Ritchson, Michelle Rodriguez & Charlize Theron
Runtime: 141 mins
BBFC: 12
Published: 25/05/23
Director: Louis Leterrier
Starring: John Cena, Vin Diesel, Nathalie Emmanuel, Tyrese Gibson, Sung Kang, Ludacris, Jason Momoa, Alan Ritchson, Michelle Rodriguez & Charlize Theron
Runtime: 141 mins
BBFC: 12
Published: 25/05/23
Whilst F9 was tearing up the box office and continuing to send the Fast Saga even further down a path of absurdity, the tenth and intended final film of the franchise was already in development, helmed by franchise veteran Justin Lin. But on set scuffles and inflated egos are par for the course with a Fast Saga film and after suffering creative differences with producers and some of the leading stars of the films, Lin departed the project just a month into production. Swiftly replaced by Louis Leterrier, the tenth film, titled Fast X revved up its engines once more as the first of a two-part finale.
Now as it arrives at the finish line, Fast X is actually the first of a trilogy of films to close the series out (I’m sure a fourth film will be added before the theatrical run of this film is over), and it promises to be the biggest and most bodacious Fast Saga film to date. So, did it deliver?
Ten years after his father’s death, Dante Reyes (Jason Momoa) swears vengeance upon Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) and his extensive family.
Wanting to make them suffer, Reyes splits them apart to make them vulnerable and begins to pick them off one by one.
At this point if you’re expecting a Fast Saga film to be anything other than melodrama and explosions, I really don’t know what to say to you. But Fast X hits the usual beats of a Fast Saga film comfortably, and predictably. That being said, Fast X is a middling entry in the franchise. Its action is plentiful, and it’s keen to provide you with dramatic speeches about family and Corona Beer at any given opportunity, but it entirely lacks stakes and is not particularly well put together.
Now as it arrives at the finish line, Fast X is actually the first of a trilogy of films to close the series out (I’m sure a fourth film will be added before the theatrical run of this film is over), and it promises to be the biggest and most bodacious Fast Saga film to date. So, did it deliver?
Ten years after his father’s death, Dante Reyes (Jason Momoa) swears vengeance upon Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) and his extensive family.
Wanting to make them suffer, Reyes splits them apart to make them vulnerable and begins to pick them off one by one.
At this point if you’re expecting a Fast Saga film to be anything other than melodrama and explosions, I really don’t know what to say to you. But Fast X hits the usual beats of a Fast Saga film comfortably, and predictably. That being said, Fast X is a middling entry in the franchise. Its action is plentiful, and it’s keen to provide you with dramatic speeches about family and Corona Beer at any given opportunity, but it entirely lacks stakes and is not particularly well put together.
It’s a well-established rule by now that nobody in the Fast Saga stays dead for long, and as a result you can never really allow the action to truly grip you. Yes, the action sequences are bombastic and over the top, perhaps even more so than its predecessor that strapped a rocket to a car and shot it into space, but that’s kind of the point. There are no consequences to anything you see. One particularly absurd moment (which is shown in the trailer) sees a bomb rolling through the streets of Rome Raiders of the Lost Ark style, before blowing up and levelling half the city. It’s followed up by a news report stating that thankfully there were zero casualties…now I’m not sure about you but blowing up a large area of one of the biggest tourist cities in the world doesn’t sound like something that could have zero casualties.
I watched the film in a 4DX screen that sports moving seats, smoke, light, wind, and water effects which I must admit gave the action significantly more punch (nearly throwing me out of my seat during the explosive climax), but I can guarantee that if I felt as though the visuals lacked that hook with the action in an environment like a 4DX screening, that watching Fast X in any other kind of environment would feel severely lacking.
Whilst performances from the likes of Vin Diesel, John Cena, and Michelle Rodriguez are predictably little more than flexing muscles and growling something about family into the camera, I must say Jason Momoa really stole the show by being so against type for this kind of film. He has a penchant for theatrics, and this contrasts so excellently with all the macho bullshit you’re drowning in during a Fast Saga film. His camp stylings and entirely over the top performance make the crazy contents of the feel deserved. It’s strange to say that Momoa almost grounds the film considering how over the top he is, but I think contextually he fits so much better than basically any other villain in the franchise’s history because he’s just so funny.
But the cracks begin to show when the group is split up early in the film because aside from Momoa, there is no one person giving a strong enough performance in this film to actually make the proceedings compelling. Usually I’m quite happy to see the comic relief of Tej (Ludacris) and Roman (Tyreese Gibson), but when they’re only bouncing off the very dry and straight laced Han (Sung Kang) and Ramsey (Nathalie Emmanuel) it’s just not as funny as when they’re getting clapped back down to earth by the likes of Dom. Letty (Rodriguez) is also not an interesting enough character to carry her own solo storyline. Jordana Brewster’s Mia is relegated to little more than a cameo appearance which is a shame as she’s proven before that she is far more likely to be a compelling character than Letty ever has been.
There’s also just so many characters to keep track of now, and some that haven’t appeared in a little while so unless you’re a Fast Saga fanatic, good luck keeping up with everything.
I watched the film in a 4DX screen that sports moving seats, smoke, light, wind, and water effects which I must admit gave the action significantly more punch (nearly throwing me out of my seat during the explosive climax), but I can guarantee that if I felt as though the visuals lacked that hook with the action in an environment like a 4DX screening, that watching Fast X in any other kind of environment would feel severely lacking.
Whilst performances from the likes of Vin Diesel, John Cena, and Michelle Rodriguez are predictably little more than flexing muscles and growling something about family into the camera, I must say Jason Momoa really stole the show by being so against type for this kind of film. He has a penchant for theatrics, and this contrasts so excellently with all the macho bullshit you’re drowning in during a Fast Saga film. His camp stylings and entirely over the top performance make the crazy contents of the feel deserved. It’s strange to say that Momoa almost grounds the film considering how over the top he is, but I think contextually he fits so much better than basically any other villain in the franchise’s history because he’s just so funny.
But the cracks begin to show when the group is split up early in the film because aside from Momoa, there is no one person giving a strong enough performance in this film to actually make the proceedings compelling. Usually I’m quite happy to see the comic relief of Tej (Ludacris) and Roman (Tyreese Gibson), but when they’re only bouncing off the very dry and straight laced Han (Sung Kang) and Ramsey (Nathalie Emmanuel) it’s just not as funny as when they’re getting clapped back down to earth by the likes of Dom. Letty (Rodriguez) is also not an interesting enough character to carry her own solo storyline. Jordana Brewster’s Mia is relegated to little more than a cameo appearance which is a shame as she’s proven before that she is far more likely to be a compelling character than Letty ever has been.
There’s also just so many characters to keep track of now, and some that haven’t appeared in a little while so unless you’re a Fast Saga fanatic, good luck keeping up with everything.
The Fast Saga’s special effects have never looked particularly impressive and always on the rubbery side, and there are a number of sequences in Fast X that look like they belong in a videogame. The uncanny valley effect of the digital actors in the shot is slightly disturbing, and the way the camera unnaturally navigates an impossible environment only adds to that. But when Fast X relies on good old fashioned vehicular stunt work it shines. In a film so overstuffed with CGI and over the top craziness, just seeing a street race play out with real people in real cars is arguably the most thrilling element.
Fast X doesn’t tread new ground for the series, it doesn’t present the best possible version of a Fast Saga film, and it doesn’t provide any resolution. But what it does do is present a reasonably entertaining over the top action extravaganza with a fantastic villain at its core. You can certainly do worse than Fast X, but you won’t remember it much beyond the quarter mile.
Fast X doesn’t tread new ground for the series, it doesn’t present the best possible version of a Fast Saga film, and it doesn’t provide any resolution. But what it does do is present a reasonably entertaining over the top action extravaganza with a fantastic villain at its core. You can certainly do worse than Fast X, but you won’t remember it much beyond the quarter mile.