Movie Review: Fast X
One of the talking points around the Fast & Furious franchise is how unrealistic and insane the movies have gotten. What started as a street-level franchise about cops, criminals, and car racing progressively became globe-trotting espionage spectacles filled with action, cars, and dozens of characters played by big-time actors. With the movies getting bigger, both in popularity and in budget and effects, the plots kept getting more complicated and the stories more ridiculous to the point where the twists, turns, and reincarnation of characters made the Fast & Furious franchise the most expensive soap opera ever. And yet with all of this going on, the movies always seemed to take everything more seriously than they should and while never fully embracing the absurdity of everything they were doing.
Fast X, the latest entry in the Fast & Furious franchise, is the first film in the franchise to fully concede to the film’s ridiculousness and silliness. A fully aware film that looks back at the films of the past and acknowledges how far they have come since the start of the franchise. The result is a rousing and entertaining film and the best Fast & Furious film since Furious 7.
Fast X opens up with a flashback to the events of Fast Five (the Fast film that started to change the franchise into what it is today). It opens on the scene where Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) and Brian O’Connor (the late Paul Walker) are stealing the bank vault of Brazilian crime lord Reyes (Joaquim de Almeida). The revelation here is that de Almeida had a son named Dante (Jason Mamoa), who survived being part of the wreckage left by Dom, Brian, and the rest of the family in Brazil.
In the present day, Dom still lives in the same house he has lived in since the first film with Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) and their son. The family seems as strong as ever and it feels like life is slowing down for the crew. That is until they are set up in Rome by Dante, who is hell-bent on getting revenge on Dom and the entire crew for what they did to his family. This sends the team on a globe-trotting adventure to protect themselves and stop Dante.
There is a scene after a thrilling action sequence in Rome where Tess (Brie Larson), the daughter of Kurt Russell’s Mr. Nobody from the previous films, is being briefed by Aimes (Alan Ritchson), the newest muscular government agent in this franchise, about the history of Dominic Toretto, his crew, and why they are responsible for the chaos that took place in Rome, despite clear evidence that they were trying to help the situation, not make it worse. Aimes is showing highlights of Dom and crew’s life as criminals (which are just clips and moments from past movies) and talks about their “humbling beginnings” to the destruction they have caused around the world. I found this scene very funny and very on-the-nose. It is the first time the franchise acknowledges how much it changed over the years and how over-the-top the franchise has gotten. And in doing in such a cheesy way with clips from previous films, heavy exposition, literally saying that they defy the laws of God and gravity, all set in a room that has some truly terrible CGI, they may acknowledge what they’ve done, but you know they don’t really care that they went from robbing trucks to making a car go into space.
Following this scene, which takes place relatively early on in the film, Fast X uses this acknowledgment of chaos and madness to its full advantage by making another high-octane action film full of destruction and mayhem. From Dom pulling down two helicopters with her car to the bridge showdown between Dom and Dante, Fast X pushes its action scenes to the limit, making scenes that are more drawn out and feature more fire and destruction than we’ve seen in the past.
The plot of the film reminded me a lot of a Roger Moore James Bond film, a time when the 007 franchise turned from slick to silly. Fast X takes our crew all across the globe to places like Antarctica, London, and Brazil. It features Dante’s henchmen showing up at Dom’s home to kidnap his son and his sister Mia (Jordana Brewster) in full tactical gear and being taken out by simple punches, kicks, and lamps while Mia seems unphased by these military men throwing her threw a table. Characters from past films come back unexpectedly, bad guys are teaming with good guys, and the soap opera melodrama continues. And then there is Dante as our villain. Mamoa steals the movie as Dante. He is one of the best villains in the Fast & Furious franchise and a blast to watch. He is so over the top and campy while also being menacing and terrifying as a man hell-bent on revenge. He is equal parts Joker from The Dark Knight and Dr. Evil from Austin Powers.
What made watching Fast X enjoyable to watch was that the cast and the director knew what this movie was. You can see the difference in the attitude from the last few films. In the previous films, it felt like everyone was trying too hard to make these serious movies despite everything about them being laughable. In Fast X, everyone knows this movie and this franchise is ridiculous and nobody is taking this movie seriously. It’s a really fun time and a great start to the final run of one of the longest-running action franchises we’ve ever had.
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