Review by Jon Donnis
The Fast & Furious franchise is back, with another film in the seemingly never-ending series. Vin Diesel stars as Dominic Toretto alongside Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, Chris "Ludacris" Bridges, John Cena, Nathalie Emmanuel, Jordana Brewster, Sung Kang, Scott Eastwood, Daniela Melchior, Alan Ritchson, Helen Mirren, Brie Larson, Rita Moreno, Jason Statham, Jason Momoa, and Charlize Theron. Dom must protect his family from Dante Reyes (Jason Momoa), who wants revenge for his father's death and loss of his family's fortune.
The Agency asks Dominic "Dom" Toretto and his crew to snatch a computer chip while it is being transported through Rome. While the rest of the crew travels to Rome, Dom and his wife Letty Ortiz (Michelle Rodriguez) stay behind with their son Brian "Little B" Marcos (Leo Abelo Perry). An injured Cipher (Charlize Theron) shows up at Dom's house that evening to tell him that Dante Reyes (Jason Momoa), the drug lord Hernan Reyes' son, has turned her gang against her and is using them to target Dom in retaliation for the death of his father. Cipher is taken into jail by Little Nobody (Scott Eastwood), who later admits that there is no mission in Rome.
Dom and Letty set out to save the team after realizing Dante has set them up. While Dom and Letty are pursuing them, Dante imprisons Dom's team in a truck that has a time bomb in it due to explode in Rome. To lessen the harm to Rome and the Vatican, the bomb is detonated throughout the streets before Dom pushes it into the Tiber River. While attempting to catch Dante, Letty is taken into custody. Agent Aimes (Alan Ritchson), the de facto commander of the Agency since Mr. Nobody vanished, thinks Dom and his group are to blame for the attack and launches a manhunt with a large reward.
Ok, the story is the usual over convoluted stuff you will be used to in a Fast & Furious film. In fact, I have seen all of the Fast films, and I can't remember the specific details of the plot of any of the previous 9 films, so the plot of this film really is a bit pointless. Dom needs to protect his family and friends from Dante. Insert lots of car chases, and fight scenes, and that is all you need to know.
At this point of the franchise, I think the vast majority of people who will see this will have already seen one of the other films, and will know what to expect, so the question that remains, is this film any good?
The plot is rubbish and meaningless, no one is watching a Fast film for the intellectual dialog, they just want to see an actor they recognise, drive fast, do some stunts, kill the bad guys, and to its credit Fast X ticks all the boxes. It has a big budget, so there is no skimping on the visual effects, or big-name stars involved.
Fans of the franchise will love it, since it delivers everything you would expect, people new to the franchise might be left feeling a bit "meh", as you won't really care about any of the characters nor have much knowledge of their backstory. That is always a problem when you are so deep into a series of films.
The dialog is goofy and unimaginative, the stunts all break the laws of physics and will have even the most hardened of fans rolling their eyes, if not laughing out loud at the ridiculousness of the whole spectacle.
Fast X is what I imagine Chat GTP would give you if you asked it "can you write the screenplay for a typical Fast & Furious film". And for all I know that is exactly what they did.
The Good
The budget for this film is through the roof, and to their credit they spent it well, many of the big-name stars do a good job, John Cena being the stand out. The action scenes are amazing, stunts are incredible, visual effects absolute top quality.
The Bad
The plot, a few CGI scenes looked a bit too CGI if you know what I mean. There is only so much you can ignore when it comes to physics, this film really pushes you to the limit.
Overall
Ok the film is ridiculous, it is over the top, the big names that appear often feel like cameos, as opposed to important parts of the plot, but like it or not, if you throw enough things at the wall, some will stick, and this film has so much action, so many stars, that you will be blinded by it all, and completely forget about some of the bad things I mentioned above.
I am a fan of the Fast Franchise, and although they really should have ended it after Furious 7 and Paul Walker's death, I did enjoy this film. I am a sucker for big action films, and this one does deliver on everything you would expect.
I score Fast X a fair 7.5/10, just sit back and enjoy it, no need to think too much.
Out now in Cinemas.
