Film Review: ‘Fast X’ retools a failing engine
By every measure, Fast X should be a series running on fumes, following a creaky Fast 8 and the overblown meta stylings that stunk up Fast 9. Much to my delight, Fast X brings the fist-pumping fun back. At this point, Vin Diesel’s belief in this series (in his role as both the lead action star and executive producer) is so strong that it’s possible I could be buying into it too.
The plot – well, more accurately, the loose framework upon which to hang corny sentimentality (Family!) and impossible (impossibly fun!) action sequences – sees a vengeful figure from Dom Toretto’s past return to exact revenge on him and his family.
If you’re at all familiar with the series, you know the drill by now. They’re all minor deviations from the same basic sort of thing, either falling under campy fun or campy bores.
The special ingredient for this latest delicious slop is Jason Momoa as the villainous Dante. Chewing the scenery with a shark-like hunger, Momoa is a hoot and a half, imbuing his thin character with a macabre sense of humour and a reality-defying level of intelligence. I would never have pegged Jason Momoa as one to go for interesting character choices, but he single-handedly brought back a level of peril and unpredictability that had been sorely lacking.
Fast X is in every sense a roller coaster ride of a movie. There are some dreadful lows here, in which it seems like actors were struggling to make something watchable out of piss-poor dialogue, and the chemistry seems to fizzle out right before your eyes. But when it’s flying at top speed, it’s a breathtaking monument to excess and crowd-pleasing, often reminding me of pro wrestling and 90s comic books. These were simple entertainments, where go-for-broke mentality was the starting point, and ridiculousness was delivered with gritted teeth.
Anyway, this one doesn’t end, so much as hit the pause button at the most perilous action set-piece yet, so a sequel is a given. Fast XI, Furious 11, or whatever it’ll be called, might flame out this absurd mythology in a spectacular blaze. Fortunately for viewers eager to stay in touch with their inner 11-year-old - in other words, Fast and Furious fans - those are a beautiful sight to behold too.
