Fast X – A Ridiculous Spectacle of Stupidity

Most would agree that the long running Fast and the Furious film franchise has jumped the shark though the exact moment when it happened is still up to debate. As logic, reason, sense, and physics have clearly gone out the window, it has continued to find success now with its twelfth film (counting Tokyo Drift and Hobbs & Shaw), 22 years following the original film. Over that period of time, it has been interesting to see how the franchise has evolved as each new film tries to top the last one in terms of stupidity. In spite of its stupidity, it keeps going because stupid sells and it is sure is entertaining to watch. The allure of sitting down in a crowded movie theatre to decompress and turning off one’s brain for around 2 hours for a film can be a powerful thing. This will be especially the case with Fast X, a film that requires a great degree of disbelief. Nevertheless, it will almost certainly leave audiences in a sense of awe simply for the leaps it makes from a logic level in what shouldn’t come as that much of a surprise to anyone. However, this latest installment takes it to another level, for better or worse.

As the story nears the end of the road, Fast X retcons back to the past to move it forward. Harkening back to Fast Five, Dante Reyes (Momoa), the son of Hernan Reyes (Joaquim de Almeida), had his sights set on revenge against Dom (Diesel) and the rest of his extended family. Putting his master plan together over the last 12 years, he wanted them to suffer just as he did. To get to Dom, Dante had to pull his family apart and he did, scattering them all across the world. Little did they know, their exploits resulted in them being framed for a terrorist attack in Rome which put them on the world’s most wanted list and left Dom to fend for himself. Though when it came to Dom, he still had friends everywhere. The best thing to come out of that was the dynamic of Jakob (John Cena) and Little Brian (Leo Abelo Perry) as they embarked on their own adventure. Complicating things further was how the Agency for whom they performing countless dangerous missions all around the world for, was under new management who did not view Dom and his family as favorably in today’s day and age. They were a part of a past they were now trying to move away from.

While the story saw all the characters have their moments as it made sure to keep them busy in one way or another to test them, this film was indisputably Dom’s. His lone wolf storyline as he took onto Dante was somewhat compelling to watch but Diesel’s lack of range held it back from being a true back and forth rivalry. Bringing boatloads of energy to the table, perhaps making for the lack of energy from Dom, the flamboyant yet maniacally menacing Dante was a delight to watch. Energy aside, there admittedly wasn’t much there. All things considered, the film basically consisted of jumping between its moving parts and hoping that they’d all come together by the end. Despite making it difficult for itself with that excess of moving parts, the film does a decent job at balancing all those parts though the final outcome remains to be seen. The anticlimactic ending would lead to the reveal that Fast X is merely the first part of a larger story. A common issue with such films is that their focus on the future distracts from their need to focus on the here and now. Although it did have its moments, the film is more of a series of scenes than an actual film.

Connecting that series of scenes was some genuinely strong moments of characters playing off of each other but also contrived story beats and of course plenty of ridiculous action and even more ridiculous set pieces. While this can pretty much describe most if not all of the films in the Fast and the Furious franchise, that combination was not nearly as impactful this time around. That being said, the ridiculousness will leave audiences in awe for what the film pulls off through mostly CGI as believability or even plausibility have gone out the window. A lot of what happens here doesn’t make sense and shouldn’t work yet the fact that the franchise keeps pulling it off in such extravagant fashion is its bread and butter and is what keeps audiences coming back. This isn’t going to change for Fast X, a film that wears its stupidity like a badge of honor. Showing little to no vision, its twists and turns and are essentially meaningless on an emotional level as anyone familiar with the franchise should be far beyond being shocked by anything it does at this point.

Following the core cast and these core characters over countless films over countless decades now, that familiarity is a comfortable thing to come back to. Meanwhile, the film boasts a large cast of new supporting characters and cameos that it could have done without who weave in and out with marginal impact, other than to pad the running time. To their credit, some of that chemistry remains which lifts certain scenes. However, with familiarity comes complacency as many of the performances are arguably phoned in. As a majority of that cast go through the motions and retreat to previously established tendencies, the film offers little in the way of energy though that could be attributed to the script and direction. Diesel’s shortcomings are well-known and and this was still the case as Dom. Counteracting Diesel’s chronic woodenness was Momoa’s Dante Reyes. Momoa definitely understood the assignment, giving the film a much-needed boost of energy, stealing scenes and making the most out of what was a thin character on paper. Not exactly known for character development, the film was seemingly only interested in getting characters from point A to point B and nothing else.

In the end, Fast X does what the Fast and the Furious franchise does best, for better or worse, and for a large portion of audiences, that will be enough. Toeing the line for so long without over going the edge, that moment may have finally come.

still courtesy of Universal Pictures

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Keith Noakes

The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.