Fast X

This weekend, Fast X, the newest entry in the Fast and Furious franchise, was released in theaters. This movie follows Dom and the fast family as their world is torn apart after a foe from a previous mission comes back for revenge. This film is marketed as the beginning of the finale of the Fast and Furious franchise so I was really curious to see how they were going to begin to close everything out. I really enjoy this franchise and was just looking for another dumb movie to have fun with.

Starting off, this movie was a lot of fun. It has the over-the-top action sequences that this franchise has become known for. The characters, as always are also a lot of fun. This movie is a bit more grounded than the previous two films. The action sequences in this movie are more at the level of Fast 5,6 and 7 in that they are a bit less over the top. This movie reminded me a bit of Avengers: Infinity War just in the way the plot is structured and how different groups of characters are separated throughout the story. I thought John Cena was a lot of fun in this film. He has some great chemistry with Dom's son that didn't really have the chance to be explored previously. Easily the best part of this movie is Jason Mamoa as Dante. He is just so much fun in this movie and is probably the best villain in the franchise. He plays a somewhat goofy character but it totally works and you really can't help but like him as a villain. This movie also has quite a few funny moments that really just add to the overall goofiness of the film. This is definitely a junk food movie. It isn't high-quality cinema but it is so much fun to watch.

There are a few things that hold this movie back for me. The first thing is that the family as a whole doesn't really get to interact together. They are all separated at the beginning of the movie so we don't really get to see their charm and energy playing off each other. Also, the stories of each of our groups don't really seem connected together. The only connecting goal is that they are all trying to meet back together. There isn't a common enemy they are working to defeat. It just makes the movie feel a bit disconnected. I also felt that the action sequences weren't as good as in the previous 5 films. There were a couple of fun scenes but no big defining sequence that makes the film stand out.

One important thing to note is that this movie is very much part 1 of a 2 part story. So there are many plot points and characters that don't get a lot of time or get any resolution. I am assuming that these will all get resolved in the end, but for the time being, it makes it difficult to judge as it is an incomplete story.

In the end, this movie was a lot of fun but also let a lot to be desired in both the action and connected story front. This movie may get elevated once I see the second half of the story but until that point, I have to knock back my score a little bit.

Score: 6.5/10 Grade: B-

Recommendation: Check this out if you are a fan of the Fast and Furious franchise