This film had an effect on me similar to that of the super mario bros movie. The critic in me knows that it is not good at a narrative or cinematographic level, but the ‘fan’ that I am could not help but enjoy these almost two and a half hours of adrenaline and melodrama to the fullest. In this review I will try to reconcile those two impressions that Fast and Furious X left me.
This saga has been conquering movie theaters for 20 years and some of its installments are among the highest grossing films in history. But after nine movies and a ‘spin-off’ that even took its characters into space, where else can this franchise go?
This movie begins with a ‘retcon’ of the fifth installment. It turns out that Hernán Reyes – the villain played by Joaquim de Almeida – had a son who was also present in his “final battle” against Dominic Toretto. His name is Dante Reyes and he has spent the last decade watching his father’s killers with one goal in mind: to cause them suffering.
Dante is a character that really surprised me. I didn’t expect much from him because I know that Jason Momoa can be attractive and charismatic, but not a good actor. what he does here is follow the Joker’s school of villainy from The Dark Knight. He is a jester with everything perfectly planned and does not make mistakes.. He acts like a clown and his fashion sense is horrible. At first it seemed absurd and it wasn’t working, but he’s so invested in his own ridiculousness that he finally convinced me.
Another character that shines with its own light in Fast X or Fast and Furious 10 is Jakob Toretto. Dom’s brother was quite disappointing in the previous movie because he was nothing more than a generic villain. Here they completely changed his personality and they took advantage of the greatest strength that John Cena has: his sense of humor. Best of all, they put him to take care of his nephew Brian and it turns out that he works quite well with children.
The other characters are a bit disappointing. The theme of the film is that by creating such a large family, Dominic Toretto created many pain points for himself. He’s afraid of losing the ones he loves and Vin Diesel tries to express this with looks of confusion and fear that don’t sit well with him. The trio of Tej (Chris ‘Ludacris’ Bridges), Roman (Tyrese Gibson) and Ramsey (Nathalie Emmanuel) are joined by Han (Sung Kang) and while they’re still as hilarious as ever — the theater audience was roaring with laughter at every joke. bad about Roman—are seriously underutilized. There’s a whole sequence in an internet cafe where one of them gets high on a cupcake and it’s useless. It doesn’t advance the plot or offer a particularly exciting moment.
The other girls in the story fare even worse. Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) is quickly separated from the group and stars in her own escape adventure alongside her worst enemy: Cypher (Charlize Theron), but she spends very little time with them. Mia (Jordana Brewster) only has a simple action sequence before she disappears and the new Tess (Brie Larson) has very few scenes. Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham) fans are also going to be disappointed when they see that he only appears in one scene in the film.
Despite its length, Fast and Furious X just doesn’t have room for the bunch of characters that make up Toretto’s family.. Even if I cut the scenes that I consider “filler” there would be no way to develop the background of so many people. The worst thing is that at the end of the film and the mid-credits scene, two more characters enter. One that doesn’t make any sense and another that was already ‘spoiled’ by the press a few days ago.
It turns out that this is not the end of the saga as they had already promised. Fast X is “the beginning of the end of the saga”. The film ends with several ‘cliffhangers’ in the style of Avengers: Infinity War and waiting for the true end of the story is going to be torture for fans.
That makes the movie feel incomplete. The climax isn’t a true conclusion, but it’s hard to complain when everything that happened to get there was so much fun.. The melee fights are nothing special, but the car chases and action scenes are still amazing. Chasing a rolling bomb through the streets of Rome is truly exciting and the final race in Portugal is full of jaw-dropping moments.
The plot has very good ideas. Although we had already seen villains with abilities and resources like this – Owen Shaw and Cypher herself, for example – none were so absurd and entertaining to see in action. Taking the Agency’s resources away from the protagonists also puts them in interesting trouble. Sadly, the development isn’t smart enough and doesn’t take full advantage of these ideas. Things end up following the traditional formula of the previous movies.
The performances are still mediocre and I would even dare to say that the dubbing into Latin Spanish improves them. The quality of the stunts and moments of risk is very high, but sometimes they are overshadowed by the CGI effects that surround them. The cinematography is based on exaggerated lighting, but its unreality fits with the absurd tone of the film. I also want to complain about the abuse of close-ups to the faces of the actors that does not benefit them at all.
But this is Fast and Furious. Those technical, narrative and development problems matter little. If we are going to see this film it is because we love these characters and we want to see them on adventures that —quoting the same film— “defy the laws of God and gravity”.. In that sense it fulfills its mission perfectly and leaves us wanting more.
At this point I wish I didn’t have to rate this Fast and Furious X review. It’s a terrible movie and it’s also excellent. Their reaction to seeing Vin Diesel’s face on the posters is what determines whether they’re going to watch it and enjoy it or stay home looking for a slightly smarter movie on some streaming service.
