Movie Review: Fast X

I just wrote over one thousand words about the Fast Franchise, and here I am to add to that with a review of "Fast X."

Dante (Jason Mamoa) seeks revenge against Dom (Vin Diesel) and his crew for what they did to his father in Fast Five.

The last two movies in this franchise have not been great, with "F9: The Fast Saga" being borderline unwatchable for large chunks of its runtime. I braced for more of the same as I stepped into the theater. I was honestly surprised when I found myself having an absolute blast. Mamoa is, without a doubt, the saving grace of this movie. His Dante is weird, flamboyant, deranged, and hilarious. He is obsessed with making Dom suffer. He goes to great lengths to punish Dom, including setting him and his crew up for a bombing near The Vatican which sends them on the run.

Mamoa delivers a much-needed contrast from the seriousness of Diesel. Dom is such a stoic character, and Diesel takes this role so seriously that a lot of the fun gets sucked out of the movie with his scenes. In one scene, we have Dom scowling and grumbling something about family, and then later, we see Dante painting the toenails of three of his men who were recently killed.

As with most of the recent movies in the franchise, there are some fun, if somewhat absurd, action sequences. There is a car with rocket launchers strapped to it. Dom's car brings down two helicopters through NOS and sheer manly willpower. The action sequences have always been one of the best parts of this franchise, no matter how ridiculous.

The is the first of two (or three) movies that are supposed to end the main franchise. I am sure there will be more movies set in this universe and I will be there for all of them because as stupid as they can be, they are fun to watch.

8/10

Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action, language and some suggestive material.

2hrs. 21min