Movie Review: FAST X

By ABBIE BERNSTEIN / Staff Writer

Posted: May 18th, 2023 / 11:20 PM

FAST X movie poster | ©2023 Universal Pictures

Rating: PG-13
Stars: Vin Diesel, Jason Momoa, Michelle Rodriguez, Leo Abelo Perry, Jordana Brewster, Tyrese Gibson, Chris “Lucacris” Bridges, Nathalie Emmanuel, Sun Kang, John Cena, Jason Statham, Rita Moreno, Helen Mirren, Brie Larson, Charlize Theron, Alan Ritchson, Daniela Melchior
Writers: Dan Mazeau & Justin Lin, story by Dan Mazeau & Justin Lin and Zach Dean, based on characters created by Gary Scott Thompson
Director: Louis Letterier
Distributor: Universal Pictures
Release Date: May 19, 2023

THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS franchise started modestly in 2001 as a tale of street racing and car theft. The second and third entries were only lightly related to the first, but with 2009’s fourth installment, FAST & FURIOUS, continuity became a factor.

Then the budgets got larger, the stakes got higher, and the casts got ever larger as former antagonists became allies. As for continuity, it is now so much a part of the FAST films that it might help (assuming one doesn’t regularly rewatch them) to read a few synopses before jumping into FAST X, which is the tenth feature in the now twenty-two-year-old feature series.

For those who need a refresher, FAST X begins with flashbacks, using clips from 2011’s FAST FIVE, where Dom Toretto (Vin Diesel), Brian O’Conner (the late Paul Walker) and their crew took down Rio de Janeiro-based drug lord Reyes (Joaquim de Almeida).

It turns out that Reyes’s psychopathic son Dante (Jason Momoa) doesn’t so much hold a grudge as just want an excuse to torment a worthy opponent. Sure, there’s an element of, “You killed my father, prepare to die,” but Dante really likes his games. Besides, one of his dad’s primary lessons was that, instead of killing an enemy outright, it’s better to make foes suffer by targeting their loved ones.

It’s hard to know what to make of Dante’s flamboyance in terms of whether it’s intended as homophobic (the “Look, this character is so evil that he’s even gay!” trope) or just Momoa trying something new that shows his enthusiasm. Dante enjoys mayhem more than most people enjoy anything, and Momoa plays him with the delight of the proverbial kid in a candy store.

Returning actors all do what they do well, with Michelle Rodriguez as Dom’s wife Letty continuing to come off as effortlessly badass, and Charlize Theron and Helen Mirren both seeming particularly happy to be back. John Cena as Dom’s brother Jakob gets to lighten up and be humorous this time around. Leo Abelo Perry is appropriately wide-eyed and energetic as Dom and Letty’s little boy.

Rita Moreno is on hand as Dom, Mia (Jordana Brewster), and Jakob’s grandmother, which somehow feels right. Franchise newcomers Brie Larson and Alan Ritchson, as government agents at odds with each other, both fit into the tone with ease.

Speaking of tone, while “restraint” would be vastly overstating the case, the screenplay by Dan Mazeau & Justin Lin, from a story by Dan Mazeau & Justin Lin and Zach Dean, based on characters created by Gary Scott Thompson, takes things down a hair from the previous outing, 2021’s F9: THE FAST SAGA. Yes, everything is still outlandish and overly earnest and enormous, but at least we’re not launching into space with duct tape (there’s a brief reference made to this sequence, but it doesn’t get explored at length).

The vehicular action and explosions, as directed by Louis Leterrier (of the first two TRANSPORTER films), are properly kinetic. While the story does have an episodic feel – at one point, we’re following five separate characters/character groups – it’s fairly coherent, and even manages to pack a few surprises. The biggest of these comes mid-end credits.

FAST X ends on a big cliffhanger. It didn’t strictly have to, since FAST & FURIOUS fans have long since demonstrated they’ll show up for the ride whether they’re in suspense or not. FAST X delivers on what it promises with proficiency. It doesn’t transcend its essential nature, but there’s no reason that it should.

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The tenth installment in the franchise is a good one of what it is

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