Fast X
Dom’s gang is back in an epic celebration of family, diversity, speed, gasoline and adrenaline.
Family man: Vin Diesel saves Daniela Melchior
Photo Credit: Peter Mountain, Courtesy of Universal Pictures
If you love somebody, somebody anywhere in the world, then you are vulnerable. The problem with Dom Toretto (Vin Diesel) is that he is devoted to his crew, and even more so to his wife Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) and his son Little B (Leo Abelo Perry). Little B is only ten, but Dom is already teaching him to drive. The trick, he says, is “to find the line. Feel the car. And let it fly.” And after a particularly energising driving lesson, Little B asks his father: “Is there anything you’re frightened of?” Well, yeah, Dom is frightened of losing the ones he loves…
Fast X is the tenth instalment in the Fast and Furious franchise and, with a price tag of $340 million, is by far the most expensive. But even at 131 minutes, it is still only half a movie. Fast X Part II – 10½ ? – is due out in two years’ time, and there are a lot of loose ends to tie up. But for this summer, Fast X delivers the goods – and then some – and is pumped with its own cliffhangers, cutting between Los Angeles, Rome, Rio de Janeiro and London. Yet before we even get to meet Little B, the movie blasts open with a WTF prologue (borrowed from Fast Five), set ten years previously in Rio, where we get to meet Dom’s new antagonist, Dante Reyes (Jason Momoa). And Momoa, equal to the cars, stunts, surprises, explosions and biceps in size and heft, is a great villain. Gleefully taking down celebrated international landmarks in his quest to obliterate Dom and his loved ones, he is as devilishly camp as he is devilish. Dante is a man without a conscience, a squealing behemoth who wins by ramping up the collateral damage of his acts.
Whereas F9 lost the plot in its effort to outdo Fast & Furious 8, Fast X is for the most part grounded in the real world, in which the punches sound like they’re landing on flesh rather than detonating a small firearm. The director Louis Leterrier (Transporter 2, The Incredible Hulk) is content to rely on gatling gun editing, acrobatic camera moves and swooping drone shots to up the ante, with Brian Tyler’s pounding score adding to the action. This is popcorn escapism, but it’s popcorn that pops, and after a breath-taking start, it barely lets up.
Zipping to Rome to unleash its second coup de théâtre, FX dispenses with the overly familiar clichés of say, Book Club: The Next Chapter, and buckles down to demolishing large sections of that historic city. There’s more to come, with most of the series’ old principals returning for a punch-up or shoot-out, depending on the demands of the story. In keeping with the spate of recent films featuring highly balletic female combatants (Dungeons & Dragons, Ghosted, The Mother), the likes of Michelle Rodriguez, Jordana Brewster, Nathalie Emmanuel and Charlize Theron get to exhibit their martial skills with more than aplomb. There’s action – and then there’s action. And for adrenaline junkies, Fast X provides the high they should be looking for.
JAMES CAMERON-WILSON
Cast: Vin Diesel, 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, Charlize Theron, Joaqium de Almeida, Leo Abelo Perry, Luis Da Silva, Ludmilla, Pete Davidson, Meadow Walker, Paul Walker, Gal Gadot, Dwayne Johnson.
Dir Louis Leterrier, Pro Neal H. Moritz, Vin Diesel, Justin Lin, Jeff Kirschenbaum and Samantha Vincent, Screenplay Dan Mazeau and Justin Lin, Ph Stephen F. Windon, Pro Des Jan Roelfs, Ed Dylan Highsmith, Kelly Matsumoto, Laura Yanovich and Corbin Mehl, Music Brian Tyler, Costumes Sanja Milkovic Hays, Sound Peter Brown and Stephen P. Robinson.
Universal Pictures/Original Film/One Race Films/Roth/Kirschenbaum Films/Perfect Storm Entertainment-Universal Pictures.
131 mins. USA. 2023. US and UK Rel: 19 May 2023. Cert. 12A.
