Fast X Review: Jason Mamoa reigns over the best Fast film since Fast 7

The menace of Jason Mamoa as the best villain in the franchise carries Fast X over the finish line in a thrilling, albeit incomplete fashion.

Fast X is a massive improvement over F9. From a plot standpoint, there’s nothing new under the hood. Fast X again puts Dominic Toretto and his family in peril with a mysterious figure from the past. The villain tests Dominic’s resolve in protecting his family. However, a villain as compelling as Mamoa’s Dante, takes the rote plot elements and raises the stakes.

Dante is the Joker to Toretto’s Batman. Dante is the first psychotic villain in the franchise and his unique code opposite Dom’s dedication to protecting his family works better than in any of the previous films. Mamoa has never been this charismatic and terrifying as he’s in this role.

Unfortunately, everything that doesn’t involve Toretto, Rio de Janeiro and Dante flames out. The bickering between Roman (Tyrese Gibson) and Tej (Ludacris) is more grating than funny. Michelle Rodriguez, Charlize Theron and Brie Larson have the best hand-to-hand combat scenes but don’t really serve much story purpose. Ramsey (Nathalie Emmanuel) and Mia (Jordana Brewster) are underutilized in the film.

By far the best-returning character is Dom’s brother Jakob (John Cena). Freed from the shackles of the melodrama in F9: The Fast Saga, Cena is terrific opposite Dom’s son Brian.

The action sequences, especially the one in Italy, are fantastic in spite of their implausibility.

The biggest issue with Fast X is there are a ton of storylines and all of the endings are shortchanged. Fast X is simply not a complete film. The storyline endings all feel like director Louis Leterrier and Vin Diesel just decided to stop filming rather than find a satisfying narrative cliffhanger.

Overall, the ride is bumpy, but Mamoa, Cena, Diesel and the insane action sequences make Fast X one of the better entries in the franchise.

With the overview out of the way, let’s take a deeper look at Toretto’s latest race. There may be some minor spoilers. Fast X is in theaters now while F9: The Fast Saga is available to stream on HBO Max.

Prelude to Fast X

Instead of using Fast X as a recollection of the franchise as a whole, the screenplay by Dan Mazeau, Justin Lin and Gary Scott Thompson, provides a heavy emphasis on Fast Five.

Fast X opens by replaying the vault heist in Brazil. Only in this version, there’s an additional character thrown into the proceedings, Dante. He is the son of Herman Reyes, the corrupt drug lord who controlled the police department. Dante has wanted vengeance against Toretto and Brian O’Conner ever since they escaped Brazil and killed his father.

Fast X returns to Rio De Janeiro in the present day as well. Dom returns to hunt down Dante but finds another new family member in the process. Isabel (Daniela Melchior) is Elena’s sister. Elena was Dom’s significant other and the mother of Dom’s son in Fast 6 and 7. There’s an instant father-daughter dynamic between these two street racers.

The absence of Paul Walker has never been more noticeable than in Fast X. Since he is running, Dom is on his own in most of the film and when he does share scenes it’s mostly with newcomers like Mamoa, Larson and Melchior. Not having a consistent screen partner hampers the film a bit.

Also, Fast Five is the film that cemented Dom and Brian as brothers and the emotional return of a certain song certainly doesn’t help with the feeling that the franchise is past its prime.

Dante’s Inferno

Prior to attacking Dom and his family, Dante goes after Cipher for her technology. Theron shines in a terrific action sequence and Cipher is forced to stumble onto Dom’s doorstep.

Meanwhile, Roman, Tez and Ramsey are in Rome on a job with Roman taking the lead. The job is part of Dante’s plan. Dom and Letty head to Italy to help the crew who are in over their heads.

Dante plans to bomb Italy. The device he chooses is a gigantic wrecking ball. The team is trying to prevent the bomb from causing too much damage while also trying to keep up with Dante. Once the plan goes array, the team is forced to split up as they are now on the most wanted list by The Agency. Mr. Nobody is incognito which leaves Aimes (Alan Ritchson) in charge. He unleashes a worldwide manhunt for the team.

Letty is arrested. Dom heads to Brazil. Roman, Tez and Ramsey head to London. Dom’s son Brian is in Los Angeles with MIa.

Dante has separated Dom from his family. How does Dom choose who they save when he’s not even in his family’s vicinity?

Dom’s Dilemma

The most Joker-like moments from Dante involve him putting Dom in a variety of moral quandaries. Unlike some of the other series villains, Dante does have a code, “No death when suffering is owed.” He doesn’t try to kill Dom at any point in the film. Dante’s focus is on the people around Dom.

For the first time in the series, Dom is outmatched by Dante at every turn. Dom does save some people but for every save there’s another person who dies. Unfortunately, the unrelenting pacing of the film doesn’t slow down to show how Dom is processing everything. Dom just moves forward as if his car was in a fender bender instead of how someone should react when a loved one dies.

There’s more determination and emotion from Shaw (Jason Statham) when he sees his mother is in danger than from Diesel.

Fast X final thoughts

The Fast Saga’s latest film is a step forward in the right direction after eight and nine went off the rails.

There are still issues. The emotional hole left by Walker’s death is still present. A lot of the returning supporting cast is wasted in exchange for introducing new characters. The film sputters out at the end.

However, a terrific villain can overcome a lot of problems and Mamoa is phenomenal. The focus on car-based action sequences is a nice return to form. Cena gets a lot more notes to play as Jokob than he did in F9.

Here’s hoping 11 will keep the throttle down throughout the whole film.

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