FAST X (2023)

FAST X (2023)

Tagline: The end of the road begins

(Action, Adventure, The Destruction of Physics as We Know It) [PG-13].

You made one mistake. You never took my car.

In this one, Dom Toretto has a run-in with a drug lord and the drug lord ends up dying in the process. Years later his son Dante has amassed extreme wealth and power and launched a plan to bring extreme pain to not only Dom and his family but anyone who has ever helped them. 

First off, this series has been in existence since 2001. I think maybe at one point this was supposed to be the last film in the series because one of the tag lines is literally “The Last Ride”, however, it now appears there are actually 2 more films on the way. So it is best to go into this thing expecting that it’s not a complete movie. When I was at the theater last night the person next to me was actually visibly upset when the movie ended. I didn’t know the person, but I can imagine she wasn’t the only one. It should also be noted, this movie like the rest is all about “family”. The word family is in the movie 56 times. 

The other thing you need to know when you watch these movies is that they are all breaking every law of physics and common sense possible. That seems to be the entire point and the movie itself actually eludes to this. Several of the movies are pretty self-aware even in the dialog, while still giving us a certain level of seriousness when it comes to the storylines. In other words, these aren’t comedies, but they get that fans know you can’t drop a car from an airplane with or without a parachute and have it go well. By the way – try not to think about it, but planes carrying cars and tanks around the world is actually pretty bonkers just in real life, let alone a movie where stuff is blowing up and everyone is shooting everything. 

Probably the best performance in this thing is from Jason Momoa (SLUMBERLAND) who plays Dante. I think BATMAN fans will quickly realize he’s basically the FAST AND THE FURIOUS version of the “Joker”. He’s loaded, he’s got gadgets, he won’t win many physical fights head to head, he’s whimsical but a homicidal basket case, all that stuff. We get Brie Larson (UNICORN STORE) in this as Tess. I did like her character in the film but I think I was hoping for a bit more with her involved. Michelle Rodriguez (DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: HONOR AMONG THIEVES) is back as Letty and is still kicking people’s teeth in. Her acting is always spot-on. Jordana Brewster (THE FACULTY) returns as Mia and is good in this as per usual. I liked the banter between Ludacris (F9: THE FAST SAGA) as Tej and Tyrese Gibson (TRANSFORMERS) as Roman. This might have actually been the best-written dialog between those two in the series. Vin Diesel is fine as Dom, but at this point, he appears to be playing the role on auto-pilot. There are a few surprises regarding the cast, but I am going to stop here. I also liked Nathalie Emmanuel and Sung Kang in this, so I don’t want people to think we didn’t have other solid performances in this. 

I don’t know that the stunts were as over the top as in some of the other films, but I actually think this was pretty well-crafted nonsense. If you are going to swing for the fences, just swing for the fences. It’s not very often when you watch a nearly 2-and-a-half-hour movie and think to yourself that you wished it was another hour longer. I get that some people hate this series and want it over and all of that, but then just don’t go. Stay home and be bitter or watch something else or whatever it is that you do. 

This gets a 5 out of 7 from me. There are at least 2 scenes I would have just taken out completely and I do wish we’d have gotten more of a few characters teased in the trailers.

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