Fast and Furious has to be one of the most severely complicated movie franchises out there. It’s a series of films that have basically coasted on two different identities for itself. You had the first three movies that act as simple street racing flicks while four and onwards act as crazy, over-the-top action thrill rides with some espionage and heist elements thrown into the mix. They say that if it wasn’t the original The Fast and the Furious that got you into the series, then it was Fast Five that did just that. Regardless of what subgenre for this series that you prefer, I think most will agree that Furious 7 should have been the main stopping point for the series. Not only because of the passing of Paul Walker and the seventh installment basically acting as one fine tribute to him but it seemed like everything had come full circle for the characters and their journeys throughout the series that there wasn’t anywhere left to go. However, the movies didn’t stop there and the series have basically become even more of a parody of itself then it already was as a result.
The Fate of the Furious was a completely dour and self-serious pile of mediocrity filled with confusing twists, odd character motivations, and screw-ups of the timeline, showcasing the lack of ideas this series has left. F9 redefined jumping the shark by literally having it’s characters jump out into orbit along with action scenes, character motivations, and logic that was borderline nonsensical, even for F&F standards, making it easily the worst the franchise has got. While the spin-off Hobbs & Shaw was enjoyable enough in it’s own right, there has been nothing about these post-Furious 7 entries that have justified this series continuing on aside from box office results. Now, we have Fast X. Although it’s an improvement over the last two main installments, it still continues that trend of a series that desperately needs to put it’s engine to rest.
Premise: Over many missions and against impossible odds, Dom Toretto (Vin Diesel) and his family have outsmarted and outdriven every foe in their path. Now, they must confront the most lethal opponent they’ve ever faced. Fueled by revenge, a terrifying threat known as Dante Reyes (Jason Momoa) emerges from the shadows of the past to shatter Dom’s world and destroy everything — and everyone — he loves. Toretto must bring his back together once again to protect his family and the one he loves from this new menace.
There are basically three main selling points when it comes to Fast & Furious nowadays: ridiculous stunts, over-the-top action, and some social commentary on the power of family. That is something that everyone has to be aware of when they go to one of these movies. While the better entries in this franchise were able to make the best use of that, most notably Fast Five, Fast & Furious 6, and Furious 7, these last few entries continue to make the absolute worst use of that. Not only because they defy logic with characters feeling more like overpowered superheroes than real human begins, they also defy tension and actual stakes. It’s not that turning your brain off for a dumb action film is inherently a bad thing but it’s now done so much to the point there’s no reason to care about anything going on in these movies anymore.
Fast X certainly doesn’t contain anywhere near amount of logic breaking action sequences on par with F9, almost as if the filmmakers felt pressured to pump the breaks after the criticism for that movie. However, there are still plenty of moments throughout that it will require you to not think whatsoever for you to buy it one single bet. The main one involves a sequence where Dom Toretto is able to run his car head on into a crane, is able to spin it around with enough force, and the car is able to land perfectly without a ton of damage or Dom having so much as a scratch on him. And don’t get started when he is also able to life a car up with just one hand and even driving perfectly through the damn while he and his son are ON FIRE! It’s almost as if scenes like this exist just so Vin Diesel can stroke his own ego and prove himself to be the “hero” of cinema! Goodness gracious!
What also takes away the tension of these recent installments is constantly bringing back characters that were previously dead. You can definitely make the argument that bringing back Letty in Fast & Furious 6 was pushing it but just about every character that has come back since then have just felt redundant. What’s the point of caring about anything happening anymore if you have characters constantly coming back when they’ve been previously killed off? Without getting much into spoilers, there is a sequence towards the end of the climax where one major character commits a heroic sacrifice but I’m willing to bet it won’t mean crap in the next film because he will likely just be brought back anyway. And that’s not even mentioning how after said character dies, we discover later on that ANOTHER character that was thought to be dead is still alive. Even if I can admittedly buy that one person surviving over the other characters brought back to life, it still doesn’t take away from the fact that the series just has no stakes or tension of any kind anymore.
To make matters even worse is that the film itself throws brand new characters into the mix without even knowing what to do with the ones that they brought back to life. Brie Larson and Alan Ritchson join the expanded cast of characters but they are mostly pushed to the wayside for the majority of the film as it has to make room for a bunch of other characters and subplots that it also doesn’t even know what to do with. What was the point of bringing Han back from the dead if you weren’t gonna give him anything to do? Why is Shaw constantly being dragged into dire situations with Dom’s crew? When exactly did Scott Eastwood becoming a main player of the series again? How in the world did you get *spoiler* back into this mess? If you offer such little spectacle that is fun to watch and ask yourself questions like I just did, then you basically failed your job at what you are trying to do.
It should be worth mentioning that Fast X is tended to be Part One of the supposed final story in this franchise, with Part Two coming out in 2025 with a possible Part Three in the works. If you didn’t know that ahead of time, then you CERTAINLY will with the way this film wraps up in the most abrupted way possible. There’s a good chance that most of my questions will be answered next time around but they’re not necessarily questions you should need another movie to answer for or ones that you really want to see being answered next time around. And considering this is a franchise that no longer cares about continuity whatsoever, I trust them to resolve all these loose ends about as far as I can throw Vin Diesel himself (except when he’s a little talking tree of course).
That’s not to say there’s no redeemable valuables whatsoever. The one newcomer that absolutely makes the whole movie his own is the villain Dante Reyes, played by Jason Momoa. The character himself is probably the best villain this series has had in quite some time and Momoa himself is clearly enjoying every scene that he is in. You can tell the actor is 100% aware of what kind of movie he is in and absolutely makes the most of it. He’s funny, manipulative, and makes for a perfect foe to Dom and his family. While the way the character is inserted into the timeline is about as contrived as it usually is with this series, Momoa is so entertaining in the role that it’s impossible to care.
There’s also John Cena’s return as Dom’s brother Jakob (I still can’t believe this is a real thing!) who works much better this time around compare to Fast X and has really nice chemistry with his nephew Brian, played by Leo Abelo Perry. The main players from the past F&F movies still do have nice chemistry with one another, even if they have all pretty much provided everything they’ve possibly can add to the series. And while the action has become so in-your-face that it’s become numb to this point, there are handful of hand-to-hand combat fights that work quite well, most notably the long awaited fight between Charlize Theron and Michelle Rodriguez.
Fast X is not the worst entry in this franchise but it definitely feels like the most tired one. It’s pretty much a statement that this series has lost the pride and heart that it once have and has literally become the parody that it was previously avoiding to do. Jason Moama carries the whole thing with his charismatic performance and there’s a few fine characters moments and action beats here and there but there is just no reason to care about any of it anymore. For those who are still on board and don’t care about effective stakes or consequences in these movies, you will likely get your money’s worth and be entertained. For everyone else, just get out of the car while you still can. It’s better than 8 and 9 but that’s not really much of a race to win.
Adam's Blog 