Fast X

By: Dana Jacoviello

In watching the franchise of The Fast and The Furious, you really never know what is to come in the next movie. That being said, Fast X is a one heck of a ride. Literally. I was excited to settle in and watch and try to guess what was going to happen next. I knew there would be twists and turns with this new installment. These movies always keep you on the edge of your seat waiting and wondering what mind-boggling stunt will come next. And we all live for those Paul Walker, who played Brian, moments and homage. I see this movie just being insanely intense, full of explosions and chaos that is ten times what it was in past movies, especially as they bring on Jason Momoa to the franchise. But in the end Dom and the family never disappoint. 

The movie starts off with your typical characters we all love to watch, but it moves pretty fast as usual. Dom (Vin Diesel) and the family seems to find themselves in dangerous predicaments no matter how much good they do now with The Agency. Throw Dante Reyes, Jason Mamoa’s character, in there as the villain and we have a new ballgame we are playing in Fast X. You still feel that funny and chaotic family dynamic that we all love to watch between the characters, but it’s full of revenge and vengefulness. Dom and his family have to now deal with the seemingly quite deranged and angry son of drug kingpin Hernan Reyes (Joaquim de Almeida). He wants Dom dead, but not before he makes him suffer the loss of those he loves as Dante has when Dom killed his father. Dante is looking to play with Dom in the most unexpecting of ways that will surprises everybody. This is like nothing they have faced before and will take all of them to come together, past and present, to overcome the rage of Dante avenging his father’s death and the love of father and son. 

Fast X starts off with some incredible upgrades to the cast. You have Rita Moreno as Abuelita and Jason Momoa as Dante Reyes, as mentioned above. Need I say more? Okay, I will. As bad as she is, the reprisal of Charlize Theron’s character Cipher is also one of my favorites. There is also Helen Miren as Queenie, John Cena as Jakob and Jason Statham as Shaw. I loved seeing all of them. Even if it is only for a short time, they make their scenes mesmerizing. Some of my favorite scenes are with Jason Statham and Sung Kang (Hab), Helen Mirren (Queenie), Vin Diesel, Tyrese Gibson (Roman) and Ludacris, who plays Tej. Roman and Tej have this love-hate brotherly relationship that just makes you laugh throughout. And Tyrese Gibson is both a badass and goofball of a character added to these movies that gives us all that giggle element. Roman always got jokes. However, Jason Momoa was it for me. He took this movie to the next level. The brilliance of hatred, evil, funny, eccentric playfulness and delusional personality of Dante Reyes was done with such beauty and ease, you almost want to like his character. There will be some more surprises as you near the ending of the movie, so keep watching all the way. This isn’t it. To be continued …

The directing by Louis Leterrier is executed well. I feel every movie has been. I barely blinked throughout Fast X. The acting, the car chases, the explosions, the emotion, the jokes, the banter, the surprises – they certainly do what is needed to keep making the films and bringing in the audience. It is what keeps us watching. Most franchises do not last past three films, if that. It is a rarity, but we are invested in this family and story. We want to see them get their happy ending as Brian and Mia (Jordana Brewster) did. We are also watching for Paul Walker as well. He wanted to see ten films made and we did it. Successfully. His impact is still alive and well. 

In conclusion, I will add that some of the stunts, as overdone or crazy as they might be, work. We all know cars are not capable of all these things they magically create on the screen such as flying out of planes, floating in the sky and making an impossible landings, cars under water and driving through fire with not so much as a scratch. Plus, there is surviving explosions and crashes that have you stunned. But they make it almost believable and enjoyable to watch. Maybe even a little funny. Something like that can easily get cheesy and ridiculous, and it might a little here and there, but all around the excitement and anticipation isn this movie is worth watching. I highly recommend it. You will want to see what is next. Fast X is more than I thought it would be, if I am going to be honest. Again, Jason Momoa is stunning in this film. I can’t express that enough. It will not only keep you glued to the screen and feel every emotion in different parts in this movie, but you will want more. I already can’t wait to see Part 2 of Fast X. After that ending, my mouth was on the floor.