Film review: Fast X starring Vin Diesel and Charlize Theron

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All good things must come to an end, and so must Fast and Furious. Episode X is not the end, but it is the beginning of the end, the start of a two (or maybe three) part finale that will conclude, box office depending, with Fast X part deux in 2025.

After hitting a peak with the sixth and seventh instalments, recent efforts have slipped in both quality and popularity, but the imposition of a finishing line seems to have focused the creative energies; the climax of Hollywood’s most genre-fluid action series – is it car movie, cop movie, daytime soap, Mission Impossible, MCU outlier? – is a glorious culmination of the overblown, overstuffed two decades of its existence.

F&F’s the party that nobody ever leaves. The numerous nods to the late Paul Walker, are a poignant contrast to the series' stubborn refusal to ever let anyone stay dead.

Fast X (Image: Universal Studios)

They even brought Kang Song’s inert, inexpressive Han Lue character back; a light touch resurrection as the degree of reanimation is marginal. The dead don’t die, and the baddies all find it impossible to stay mad at Dom Toretto (Diesel) and his family, so they end up hanging around and the whole thing had become a bit top-heavy.

X turns that on its head by making the film a celebration of the sprawl and diversity of the Fast saga. It contains a montage revisiting its journey from B-movie to blockbuster, beginning with a recap of the bank safe car chase heist climax of Fast Five, a series highlight and the pivot that thrust the series into global blockbuster range.

Here the sequence is used to introduce the new villain, Dante Reyes (Momoa), the orphaned son of that film’s bad guy, who is inserted into the old footage.

Fast X (Image: Universal Studios)

Dante is a flamboyant new edition, a camp master villain with unlimited resources and a narcisstic need for attention. He’s like a cross between Hannibal Lecter and Duncan Norvelle, and a lot of his schtick seems to have been stolen from Jack Nicholson's Joker. I don’t think Momoa has the charisma or skill to pull off the role, but his presence is effective in allowing the series to ascend to ever more epic scales of idiocy. By the end of its two hours and twenty minutes you may find yourself lost in a state close to berk euphoria.

Directed by Louis Leterrier. Starring Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Charlize Theron, Tyrese Gibson, John Cena and Jason Momoa. Running time: 141 mins.

http://half-man-half-critic.weebly.com/ for a review of the Arrow Video’s 4K UHD Blu-ray disc release of Terry Gilliam’s film of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.