Fast X
Director: Louis Leterrier
Writer: Dan Mazeau, Justin Lin
Sequel to: The Fast and the Furious, 2 Fast 2 Furious, The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, Fast & Furious, Fast Five, Fast & Furious 6, Furious 7, The Fate of the Furious, F9
Cast: Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Jordana Brewster, Tyrese Gibson, Ludacris, Charlize Theron, Nathalie Emmanuel, Sung Kang, John Cena, Brie Larson, Scott Eastwood, Jason Momoa, Leo Abelo Perry, Alan Ritchson, Luis Da Silva Jr., Daniela Melchior, Joaquim de Almeida, Rita Moreno, Pete Davidson, Jason Statham, Helen Mirren, Paul Walker, Gal Gadot, Dwayne Johnson
Seen on: 17.5.2023

Plot:
Dom (Vin Diesel) is trying to enjoy his life in more-or-less retirement with Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) and their son Little Brian (Leo Abelo Perry). Maybe he can even hand over the reins to their group a little more to Roman (Tyrese Gibson). But an attempt to do that turns out to be a trap, set by Dante (Jason Momoa) – who is trying to get back at Dom for his father’s (Joaquim de Almeida) death. And revenge, for Dante, is completely destroying Dom and his family.

It’s no secret that I am a huge fan of the Fast and Furious series and while Fast X may not be the best movie in the series so far, it absolutely fulfilled my hopes. But be warned: contrary to what I believed, this is not the last film in the series, but the first in a trilogy that is supposed to close the series out.

This franchise has long since left a point where you can or should expect any kind of realism from it. It has become more about what incredible stunts they can come up with next while Dom mumbles things about family, and the team keeps devouring all of their antagonists and turning them into family, too (more or less). Fast X doesn’t change any of that, but sets things up for a great show-down by bringing pretty much everyone who was ever in any of the films back. In fact, they even bring back a couple of action scenes.

The newest thing about Fast X is Dante. I have been dreaming of the day Momoa joins the franchise and thus completes my personal beefcake bingo, but I honestly couldn’t have hoped for a better role for him. He plays Dante with a sense of abandon and fun that contrasts nicely with Dom and his gruff earnestness. I couldn’t even mind that we get yet another queer-coded villain thanks to his flamboyant performance because it is such an obvious comment on the masculinity on display in the films so far that I couldn’t help but love it, actually. (I swear, if I ever win the lottery and can take a few years off regular work, I will write a dissertation about this franchise, its moral code and portrayal of masculinity. With Dante, this has only become more interesting.)

The film is not perfect. There are a couple of pacing issues and with the sheer mass of characters, it has its work cut out for it to fit them all into the film – with some plots it works better than with others. The action, especially the smaller things, has been better – though watching Theron and Rodriguez go at it makes up for a whole damn lot.

Going into the film, I was as prepared as I could be for the series to end, but it is far from over. In fact, the film doesn’t even have an ending, it just has pause button until the next installment comes out. If they do stick to the plan of a trilogy, and why wouldn’t they, the next film will have its challenges because the middle is always the hardest. But I am happier than anything else that this isn’t over yet.

Summarizing: if you liked the series so far, this is a must-see. If you didn’t like it, Fast X probably won’t change your mind and definitely isn’t the right point to start.