The story about a group of street racers from California who go from highway robbers to smugglers to train thieves to spies to virtual superheroes has so far grossed more than $6 billion. And, by all expectations, Fast X will make another big pile of dollars.
After originating in 2001 in Los Angeles and since then taking us to Miami, Tokyo, Rio De Janeiro, London, through a plane, against a submarine and to outer space … the fast saga is finally coming to an end with Fast X.
Along with the returning main cast of Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Chris ‘Ludacris’ Bridges, Tyrese Gibson, Natalie Emmanuel, and Sung Kang, the latest instalment also features new characters played by Brie Larson, Alan Ritchson and Jason Momoa.
Momoa, as the villain, was interesting to watch. He wasn’t the usual kind of grim and all-serious bad guys that the Fast series usually rely on. He was more chaotic. More colourful. It was a nice breath-of-fresh-air from the usual muscle-heads that have featured in previous instalments (Mimosa’s still meathead, just with a little bit of character).
One of the best parts of the movie is the original story of Momoa’s Dante Reyes. The start of the film takes us back to one of the best scenes from one of the best instalments in the series. It shows us an extended view into the bank vault chase scene from Fast Five.
The extreme, over-the-top, physics-defying stunts are back this time too. Although, some of the CGI work this seem undercooked for some reason. Nevertheless, they are still fun to watch.
But the movie also felt disjointed. There were too many characters and too many plot points to follow in just 141 minutes. And, because of this, there wasn’t enough screen time to flesh out all the characters.
Larson just seemed like a wasted character – only on screen to serve as a plot point with a thin as paper connection to the rest of the universe.
Ritchson also seems like a cookie-cutter character put in place to only provide more muscle to an already over-muscled-out affair.
In conclusion, Fast X is a movie that’s stuffed to the brim with characters and motivations. Nobody ever expects the Fast and Furious movies to be cinematic masterpieces … and this one isn’t either. It’s a fun movie to watch with your friends at the weekend.
P.S. Like all major studio movies now, Fast X also features one post-credit scene that proves to be a real surprise for fans.
– Deviprasad Nair