Released: 19th May 2023 (UK and US)
Length: 141 Minutes
Certificate: 12A
Director: Louis Leterrier
Starring: Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, Ludacris, Nathalie Emmanuel, Sung Kang, John Cena, Charlize Theron, Brie Larson, Alan Ritchson and Jason Momoa
With the exception of shared universes, the Fast and Furious franchise is one of the longest running blockbuster properties. Since Fast Five in 2011, it raced along with each release getting more bloated and ridiculous than the last, entering a decline after the seventh title. With Fast X, the end of this long and tiring road is in sight, but you shouldn’t expect anything above par from the latest entry.
Whipping out another retcon and tying it to the fifth film (with a liberal use of old footage), Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) and his band of super-spy drivers are under attack from Dante (Jason Momoa), son of the late drug lord Hernan Reyes. Unpredictable and relentless, this new foe splits the narrative into four major threads after blowing up a good portion of Rome. Dom sets off on his own, reconnecting with old friends in Rio De Janeiro while his wife Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) struggles to escape a blacksite prison. Roman (Tyrese Gibson), Tej (Ludacris), Ramsay (Nathalie Emmanuel) and Han (Sung Kang) struggle to get by when the crew loses all their money and finally the reformed Jakob Toretto (John Cena) travels with Dom’s son Brian (Leo Abelo Perry) to find safety. The ludicrous set pieces from the previous film have been toned down as Fast X adopts a more down to earth tone; as a result, it is easier to jump in, but serious problems remain. Despite Dante’s encroaching presence, the sense of danger remains muted and many silly twists and double-crossing moments are thrown into the mix with minimal effort. The tone is all over the place, aiming to fuse many emotions together while rapidly swapping between sequences. Some action scenes are completely nonsensical, such as a throw-down between Charlize Theron and Michelle Rodriguez that goes nowhere. The film also ends on a cliff-hanger, making one of the four plot threads feel rather pointless.
The endlessly repeated theme of family has brought the characters together for years, but as soon as the opening barbeque sequence is over, Fast X doesn’t get very far when it comes to growth or development. Every archetype is well-established and rarely changes; Dom is gruff but sincere, Roman is the comic relief, Han is calm and cool, it’s all very samey. Some side characters have actually been improved for the tenth outing. John Cena has been given a personality to work with and Jason Momoa is clearly having a ton of fun as the villain, so much so that he often clashes against Dom’s more serious scenes. Everyone else stays the course and not in a good way; there are simply too many characters to keep track of and they often fade into the background. This also applies to some of the bigger names; Brie Larson has no memorable presence, Jordana Brewster, Helen Mirren and Jason Statham show up for about five minutes each and old faces suddenly re-emerge in the final moments. Fast X promises a grand ensemble with everyone attending, but it does a poor job of balancing out the screen-time.
After literally going to space in the previous film, the tenth Fast and Furious is more restrained when it comes to action. With two major car chases and a throwback to street racing in the middle, Fast X places more emphasis on the hand-to-hand combat. In spite of plot contrivances and overpowered team members, most of the brawls are well choreographed with some decent editing. A shootout on a familiar bridge in Brazil is also well done, even if the main characters survive without taking a scratch. Louis Letterier previously directed Transporter 2 and the influence is clearly felt. The music is what you’d expect; plenty of rap songs and club tracks. This is also common fare for the series; with so many sweeping location shots and sped-up footage, the production rarely takes a break, always opting to move forwards.
It may be slightly better than number nine, but Fast X is too overstuffed and inconsistent to save the franchise. With so many tacked-on characters and twists that unwind any tension, this multi-part finale is off to a rocky start. Some of the fight scenes and characters are mildly entertaining; everything else is hollow cinematic junk food.
Rating: 2.5/5 Stars (Mediocre)
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