I was never the one to grow up watching the Fast and Furious movies all the time. I have seen a couple here and there but it was only in the lead up to Fast X when I watched all nine previous movies in a week. So by the time I ended up seeing this one, I was pretty much burnt out. Going from street racing for most of the movie to being more of a heist movie, the Fast and Furious franchise has steered (pun intended) away from realistic racing to far-fetched missions that make you scratch your head at the end. Fast X wasn’t far off from that.
The tenth installment of the F&F franchise follows Dom Toretto (Vin Diesel) as he is once again brought into the world of crime. This time, Dante Reyes (Jason Momoa) challenges Dom and serves to prove that he is unlike any villain Dom has ever faced, always one step ahead of the main crew. They are once again reunited with the normal family of Letty Ortiz (Michelle Rodriguez), Roman Pearce (Tyrese Gibson), Han Lue (Sung Kang) and Tej Parker (Ludacris) along with others. Dante Reyes is the son of Hernan Reyes who was the main antagonist of Fast Five. In this film, he seeks his vengeance after his father’s death in the fifth movie, and boy is he intense.
It almost seems like the producers of the Fast and Furious franchise are openly proving that half the action sequences are one hundred percent fake and could never happen. This has been an ongoing conversation throughout the past several movies between F&F fans. There was one scene in this movie that almost had me burst out laughing because of how unrealistic it was. I just kind of shook my head and smirked. At this point I am just going to expect sequences like this in this franchise’s future films.
Along with the film’s blatant unrealism, the dialogue was very bland in this movie compared to its counterparts. More than half the movie is unneeded script, and it almost seems like they are trying to fill in space. It may have been just me, but I had a very hard time trying to pay attention to what was going on during Fast X.
The acting was also subpar, even for the standards this series has set. It seemed like no one wanted to be there and it was just another F&F movie. However, I can say that Jason Momoa plays an absolute badass and a menace. I wouldn’t doubt if he drank several energy drinks right before shooting, he brought a ton of energy to the film whenever he was on screen.
I think the only enjoyable parts of this film along with Momoa were the action sequences. Even though they were unrealistic, they were enjoyable to watch and pretty unpredictable. They did a decent job shooting the film so that it made Dante Reyes as Dom Toretto’s worst nightmare, and an equal in skills.
Final Thoughts
Fast X was nothing special. Just another Fast and Furious movie that really wasn’t needed. Despite having decent acting from one individual and intriguing action sequences, this film seriously lacked in screenplay and overall enjoyment. This is part of a several movie franchise so if you’re in this far, mind as well keep going. But it isn’t a movie that I would recommend seeing if this is your first foray into the Fast and Furious franchise.
