Fast X review: Vin Diesel’s Furious franchise is spinning its wheels

of the only deceptive thing about In the Fast and Furious movie, the people behind it make it look like it’s still a movie about cars. Don’t let the torque and fuel injection system fool you. The series shifted into another gear long ago. Specifically, we pivoted in 2011. fast fivethe film that made Fast and Furious It’s today’s superhero/super-spy/super-heist hybrid franchise. Since then, what was once a fresh (and, let’s be honest, pretty funny) pivot has spun its wheels and rushed into the dirt. What it brings us is Fast X.

The villain in the latest chapter of the story is Dante Reyes (the former and future Aquaman Jason Momoa), the son of a Brazilian drug dealer antagonist. fast five. Fast X opens with recycled footage from fast five It depicts Dante’s father, Hernan (Joaquín de Almeida), dying in the film’s climactic bank robbery/car chase. This is a decisive choice as it reveals where the current incarnation of the series lies. TRUE Began.Also, this will remind longtime fans what these movies were once all about – The Last Car Chase fast five great, more than anything Fast X — and what they ostensibly do now.

The answer to the last part is—say it all now— family. Fast X This theme cannot be emphasized more clearly. This is a film without subtext, where characters state their motives and explain in the clearest terms what they are going to do right before they do it. (“That’s a big bomb!” At one point, the characters say when the big bomb is revealed. “I’m going to kill the guy who’s trying to defuse it,” Dante tells the weak-minded man. I say, a few minutes later.) This curtness is mostly laughable. But it’s useful in the sense that it helps viewers if they happen to miss one of the following: Fast XMany references to other Fast and Furious In the movie, another character pops up later to explain the connection.

Fast X It also demonstrates Universal’s master plan for the series by constantly emphasizing the importance of: heritage and pass on knowledge from generation to generationin which Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) hands over the car keys to his son Little B (Leo Avello Perry) after completing the epic three-part ending of the current saga, pre-empting a future reboot. Set.

Fast X passes the baton in terms of supporting characters as well, introducing two new members of the “Institution” that control the fate of Dom and his crew. Tess (Brie Larson) is the daughter of Kurt Russell’s Mr. Nobody, who is currently “deeply hidden” after his plane was ambushed at the beginning of the film (perhaps he will appear in the post-credits sequence someday). ). Last movie. Ames (Alan Ritchson) is Mr. Nobody’s successor and tries to catch Dom and his crew until they’re gone.

New characters related to old characters also make an appearance on the good guys’ side, with familiar friends — Letty (Michelle Rodriguez), Mia (Jordana Brewster), Han (Sung Kang) and Tej (Chris “Ludacris” Bridges). , Roman (Tyrese Gibson), and Ramsey (Natalie Emmanuel) are also there. The predecessor’s antagonist Jacob (John Cena) is built into Dom’s circle of trust, and even super-hacker Cypher (Charlize Theron) shows temporary loyalty to the crew. And this does not include cameo appearances.

Photo: Peter Mountain/Universal Pictures

At this point in their lives, Dom and Lettie are sober, with silenced guns on their nightstands, but still square parents. Whether they’re trying to defuse a bomb or teach Little B a trick, they take their lives and their work very seriously. This makes the two of them the most unconvincing characters in the film. Meanwhile, their partners in crime (or heroism, depending on which movie you think of) are still slicing through it like they used to. But with Han on a dating app and Tej and Roman still spending their days playfully teasing each other, the gags are starting to feel dated.

The characters I enjoy the most are both new additions to the series. Sina said, peacemaker, brings a fun uncle energy to the scene. And what about Momoa? Now, the best description of his performance in this movie is Nepobaby Joker, who embraces chaos and destabilizes Dom’s extended family while wearing pastel manicure and silk shirts down to his navel. right.He also steals lines from dark Knight he said: “Some people want to save the world. They just want to be punished.”

Given Dom’s habit of acquiring families (complaining about the Fast and Furious “cult” that keeps recruiting his former enemies, and Aim’s lampshade being the point), this piece There are a lot of characters that have to go. Fast X. Inevitably, director Louis Leterrier (who took over after longtime Fast and Furious mastermind Justin Lin, who stepped down early in production) splits it into parallel globe-trotting adventures. Some of them are more exciting than others. For example, Tej, Roman, Ramsey, and Han spend most of the film shopping for underworld tech and hanging out with old friends in London.

Image: Universal Pictures

And when the action actually comes in, it’s not the best style. Fast and Furious movie. Leterrier has clearly enhanced the chase scenes with his CGI, and the hand-to-hand combat is filmed in a piecemeal fashion, never showing the whole thing from throwing punches and kicks to impact. The whole thing has no sense of scale or place. That was before nauseating drone photography.

Even the excitement factor is second to all-around IP. Fast X, Audiences are encouraged to spend time pointing at the screen for recognition, like Leonardo DiCaprio in the movie. rick dalton meme. The movie is full of callbacks and mentions, repeating some of the series’ best stunts in warm-over sequences, mostly revealing how much more fun the first was.It would be disingenuous to lament the subtlety this series lacked, but the emphasis on the story Fast X It introduces a deadly emotion for such films: boredom.

Fast X It suffers from the same situation as recent MCU movies. Too much inner mythology makes it feel more like homework than popcorn entertainment. “The days of one man at the wheel of a car making a difference are over,” Ames coolly tells Dom in the run-up to the film’s blazing physics-defying action climax, but of course. A man behind the wheel of a car will be involved in it. Emes’ prediction is wrong, and the very thought of it must be wrong. But the days when such goofy, bombastic lines keep viewers coming back to the series may be coming to an end.

Fast X ]Will be released nationwide from May 19th.