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Spoilers galore follow this paragraph, if you plan on seeing Fast X then stop reading now.
First Impressions of Fast X
I am a huge fan of the original film from 2001 but as the series progressed, the quality dropped drastically. Poor story lines (compared to the first three at least) and increasingly stupid stunts (space, the final derp) don’t help the series. Also, 22 years and this franchise is still going – wow.
Like all the Fast and the Furious franchise, Fast X is action first, story later and that’s absolutely fine. Don’t expect this to be a cinematic masterpiece. There is a huge amount of fun to have with this film as long as you just switch off your brain. If you are expecting a story that will make you think, you’ve already overthought it.
Jason Momoa steals the film, his over the top portrayal of Dante is a genuine pleasure to watch. You can feel the enjoyment Momoa had whilst filming each time he appeared on screen. No one else seems to match this energy, returning as their characters from the franchise.
That cars, as normal are there to steal the show (even though Mamoa manages it this time). Be it the gold wrapped Lambo that Roman is driving through to Cena’s stupid rocket truck. My only criticism would be there aren’t enough cars for what alludes to be the ‘end of the line’.
It’s all about family
Because of course it is, we’ve all seen the millions of memes. To keep this short:
Dom and Brian kill an bad guy.
Bad guy has son – Dante.
Dante promises to cause suffering to Dom by tearing apart the ‘Family’.
Agency blame Dom and ‘Family’ for blowing up Rome.
Dante kidnaps Dom’s son and Jacob dies helping Dom.
New agency guy goes from hate to likes Dom before revealing he is double agent (no surprise at all).
Dom and Son escape but Dante announces it’s now time for him to die.
End of film.
Every bit of the film is predictable but still, I enjoyed it. Sometimes it’s nice to be able to nip to the loo knowing you aren’t going to come back confused. There were plenty of times I laughed but importantly, a couple of times I was felt something towards the characters.
I don’t typically like child actors but in this case, they did well choosing who they did. Dom’s boy hasn’t been ruined by script and the actor portrays his role very well. So often kids are written to be whiny, screaming little shits – not this time. Vin Diesel could do with some lessons from him…
Look, I like Vin Diesel but he is very much type cast now by Hollywood. I would have loved to see a little more emotion from him during this, especially as the theme is his suffering. It just never seems to come across.
You know I said Marvel CGI was bad
Rob and I have both been guilty of saying how bad CGI has got in Marvel films. It doesn’t stop us enjoying them but its a shock to see the original Iron Man often look better than more modern films. Fast X is guilty of this, using more and more CGI over traditional filming of practical effects and over all, the film is worse for it. It’s painfully obvious that bat shit crazy stunts require a use of CGI but when it isn’t implemented well, it removes some of the onscreen magic.
There are worse crimes this film could commit though so let’s not dwell on something so minor.
My final thoughts on Fast X
It’s fun, it’s stupid and it doesn’t leave with you a numb bum. I’m disappointed that this isn’t the final film only learning at the end credits that there is up to two sequels planned. The franchise has run it’s course but for me, a three part ending really isn’t needed. It’s probably not worth the money of a cinema ticket unless you’re a die hard fan of the franchise. I’m glad my ticket was covered by Cineworld Unlimited.
