The “Fast and Furious” film franchise is so firmly established in popular culture and the consciousness of viewers that it is difficult to imagine the modern world without it. It is as ubiquitous as Corona Extra beer or family values, which the heroes of the car saga have been talking about for many years. “The Fast and the Furious” can’t even end normally, because the tenth film is only the first of the trilogy, which is supposed to put an end to the world’s most popular automotive epic. We will tell you in the review below how Fast and Furious X turned out.
“Fast X” / Fast X
Action genre
Directed by Louis Leterrier
Starring Vin Diesel, Brie Larson, Jason Momoa, Michelle Rodriguez, John Cena
Premiere cinemas
Release year 2023
IMDb site
The life of Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) seems to be on its way again. He teaches his son to drift on a muscle car, drinks beer, digs into car parts and is generally not particularly worried. But with Toretto’s past, such an idyll could not last forever – a new dangerous enemy, Dante Reyes (Jason Momoa), begins hunting him. He wants not just to kill Dominic, but also to destroy everything that is important to the main character.
Have you read the notice? Great, now you can forget about her. After all, “Fast and Furious X” is a film in which the plot and script play such an insignificant role that you can safely ignore them. Yes, there is a fairly high-quality structure, elaborate dialogues and expressive pacing, but all this is as important as the ability to play video games in the Tesla car system. I mean, it’s all funny, of course, but that’s not what you buy a car for, right?
The new film is actively scattered with references to the previous parts of “The Fast and the Furious”, as if flirting with fans of the franchise. Even the memory of the deceased Paul Walker does not forget to honor the remix of the same song See You Again “Fast and Furious X”.
However, everything feels a bit tired and tiring. As, however, and a lot of things in this racing series. However, the fan service is in place, we will note here.
But how can you criticize something that has been working successfully for many years? Going to “Fast and Furious X” will not change your ideas about the franchise, because the film does not go beyond its formula. Don’t expect any cars in space here either, let every chase here be furnished extremely pathetically and with its own taste. Although “Fast and Furious” fans are unlikely to be surprised by anything here.
“Fast and Furious X” seems to overwrite all the norms of High Cinema™, which directors of the level of Martin Scorsese and David Lynch have been talking about for many years. This is a movie that you need to go to with a group of loud friends to actively discuss what is happening right during the viewing. Taking some snacks and drinks with you. Not the most cultured behavior, but believe me, there is nothing in “Fast and Furious X” that can be missed by jokes and snarls.
Yes, the acting of Jason Momoa and Brie Larson here is pleasantly surprising. Dante turned out to be a first-class sociopath antagonist who attracts the audience’s attention and captivates with his charm. The medley of star actors in the film will in principle appeal to those who watch movies only for famous names. And it would be possible to think about the disclosure of the characters and the time allocated to each, but here they all have approximately equal importance for the story. Pale and fresh are about the same.
Fast and Furious X is not even fast food from the world of cinema. Rather, it can be compared to all kinds of chips and crackers, which appear as quickly as they disappear. And let the comparison with food is a very bad tone in matters of criticism of artistic works, but in the case of “Fast and Furious X” it is somehow impossible to deny oneself this weakness. Maybe because the cinema deserves only her.
Fast and Furious has long ceased to be about love for cars and extreme driving in general. This is especially noticeable in contrast to the trailer for the adaptation of Gran Turismo, which is precisely about these sublime things in the first place. “The Fast and the Furious” is more about self-infatuation. It is a thing in itself that is no longer capable of changing in any way.
And there are only two options how to treat “Fast and Furious X” in such a situation. The first way: you completely turn off your brain and get a strange pleasure from a kaleidoscope of familiar faces, explosions and cars. The second way: you look at local history through the prism of such a large-scale irony that you seem to be inventing a movie for yourself. But then why waste time going to the cinema?
“The Fast and the Furious” is especially famous for its moments with Corona Extra, phrases about family and Dominic Toretto’s cross. In Fast and Furious X, the authors showed all these moments in the first five minutes of the film. It was as if everyone on the set understood why and for whom everything was started.
During my viewing, after these three elements were shown, several people in the theater got up and left, never returning to continue watching. Perhaps this was their Fast and Furious X. Perhaps this is the whole of Fast and Furious X.
Pros: Jason Momoa’s acting; wonderful and exciting pursuits; recognizable cast; a strange, almost masochistic pleasure in the stupidity of everything on the screen Cons: the absurdity of the story; one of the most daring attempts at a sequel in the history of cinema; the tenth part is not particularly surprising Conclusion:
Fast and Furious X cannot create either good or bad advertising. It will still pay off, there’s nothing you can do about it. Calm down and relax. Still, no one will drive you to the cinema for another spin with Vin Diesel
