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With: Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Jason Statham, Tyrese Gibson, Ludacris, Jason Momoa, John Cena, Jordana Brewster, Nathalie Emmanuel, Sung Kang, Brie Larson, Alan Ritchson, Daniela Melchior, Leo Abelo Perry, Scott Eastwood, Helen Mirren, Charlize Theron, Rita Moreno, Luis Da Silva, Pete Davidson, Dwayne Johnson
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Written by: Dan Mazeau, Justin Lin, based on a story by Dan Mazeau, Justin Lin, Zach Dean
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Directed by: Louis Leterrier
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MPAA Rating: PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action, language and some suggestive material
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Running Time: 141
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Date: 05/19/2023
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Spinning Wheels
By Jeffrey M. Anderson
The tenth official movie in this ongoing franchise — and the first of a two-parter — Fast X continues the same, tired, simplistic formula: travel, stunts, fights, explosions, crashes, "family" talk, repeat.
In this one, a new villain, Dante (Jason Momoa) emerges, seeking revenge on Dom (Vin Diesel) and everyone Dom loves. (Dante blames Dom for the death of his father, Reyes, in Fast Five.)
Roman (Tyrese Gibson), Tej (Ludacris), Ramsey (Nathalie Emmanuel), and Han (Sung Kang) are called to go to Rome to steal a powerful computer chip, but the job is actually a trap set up by Dante. After huge bomb is detonated, the team are made to look like terrorists, with Dom as their leader. They lose their protection from The Agency, and their bank account as well.
Meanwhile, Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) is arrested and winds up in a secret prison, while Dom's brother Jakob (John Cena) rushes Dom and Letty's son (Leo Abelo Perry) to a safe place. Now off the grid, the team must try to reunite, even as the sociopathic Dante seems to anticipate their every step.
In Fast X (the marketing team missed a chance in playing with the phrase "Fast-Ten your seatbelt!") the oft-repeated "family is everything" theme is now mostly about protecting one's family, and how much it hurts to lose loved ones (even though most characters who were once thought dead are now alive).
The stunts are bigger, of course, but still seem derivative of past stunts. Momoa's new villain acts almost exactly like Batman's comic book foe the Joker, dancing, giggling, wearing flouncy, clownish outfits, spouting endless one-liners, and behaving ghoulishly insane; it's all pretty shopworn.
However, John Cena (the villain in the last movie) offers some of the movie's warmest and funniest moments, playing the "cool uncle" in charge of protecting his nephew. And while the movie occasionally, slyly makes fun of itself, it's sadly not enough to break it free from its slavish devotion to its hit recipe.
Then, after more than two hours, Fast X ends on a cliffhanger, but it's all so exhausting that it makes us yearn not for more, but for a true and proper ending to this 22-year-old story.
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