Fast X Movie Review

“Fast X” is the tenth movie in the very popular franchise of “Fast and Furious”. The way to pronounce the movie name is “Fast Ten”. As in — “Fasten in! It’s going to be a bumpy ride!”. The series has been an escalating roller coaster that forgot of about the down cycle. Mastermind Vin Diesel is already preparing for the next movie in this series. I hope it is called “Diesel’s Eleven”!

The leader of the make-shift ‘street racing / master thievery / undercover CIA asset’ team is Dom Torreto (played by Vin Diesel). He is relaxing at home in L.A. with his wife Letty (played by Michelle Rodriguez). As it usually happens in these stories, Dom’s family is now a target of an evil mastermind.

Dom and Letty find that out when an intruder comes in, and it is Cypher (played by Charlize Theron). Cypher is an evil hacker / master manipulator. But she is on the run from somebody else. She was a terrible villain a few movies back, but now these folks tolerate each other.

Cypher explains that her Evil Lair was taken over by a person with a long history of hating Dom and his team. Even more movies ago, Dom and his Team went down to Rio de Janeiro to stop a Drug Lord. The Team stole of the Drug Lord’s money — still in the vault. The Drug Lord was killed.

At that point his son, named Dante Reyes (played by Jason Momoa), swore to not just kill Dom — but he wanted to make this guy suffer. The best way to mess with Dom is to threaten his family. That would be his wife and child, and also his extended family – his Team.

The other Team members have gotten a special request from ‘off-the-books’ CIA agents. This request is to go to Rome and steal a top-secret microchip. The leader for this quick-and-easy assignment is Roman (played by Tyreese Gibson). He will be joined by Tej (played by Ludicris), and also a master-hacker Ramsey (played by Nathalie Emmanuel). Hanging out with them will be Han (played by Sung Kang). Han was dead for a couple of movies, but came back. It’s best not to over-analyze it…

But it is a setup, a dirty trick put together by Dante. They are not in Rome to steal a chip. It is a super-powerful bomb. Dante has all the codes to set it off at the Vatican. That is so he can blame Dom and his crew. There is a wild and woolly car chase through the narrow streets of Rome. Dom and Letty get there to help save the Team, and to save Rome. Dante is up on high tower overlooking his grand plan of destruction.

The full disaster is averted, but they are now all considered Terrorists. Letty is captured by the CIA. There is a new person in charge of the ‘secret undercover CIA asset’ squad. It is a fellow named Aimes (played by Alan Ritchson). The daughter of the prior leader is named Tess (played by Brie Larson). The old leader is now in hiding, and Tess is still willing to help Dom. Aimes wants to bring all of them in. And the best way to get to Dom is to get to his family. It’s best not to over-analyze it…

Dom’s son was left with his sister Mia Torreto (played by Jordana Brewster). But CIA assets come to steal away the boy. Mia fights them off and she then gets some backup.  Jakob Torreto (played by John Cena) is there to save the day. Never mind that in the last movie, he was the one out to kill Dom and Crew. He’s a good guy now. It’s best not to over-analyze it…

Letty was taken to CIA Black Site. And now, Tess comes to visit and help her plan a break out. But also in CIA custody is Letty’s mortal enemy – Cypher. Can she trust her long enough to make a bargain so they can both escape? Letty and Cypher agree to work together, at least to get out of captivity. It’s best not to over-analyze it…

The Team in Rome is able to escape, with some help from England-based Queenie Shaw (played by Helen Mirren). She gets them to London, where the Team finds out all of their money is gone. No fear, Roman has a bunch of cash. Ramsey finds an old friend who can supply cars and arms. But that goes wrong, and then Han knows of another person. It turns out to be Queenie’s son – Deckard Shaw (played by Jason Statham). Wait – he used to try and kill Dom’s Team before.  It’s best not to over-analyze it…

Dom gets away to a nice little beach spot in Rio de Janeiro. Dom still has some buddies there, but Dante knows that Dom will be there. Dom meets Isabel (played by Daniela Melchior), who is the sister of Dom’s now-dead lover. That sister is the mother of Dom’s boy. But he is married to Letty, right? And the mother was used as bait by the evil Cypher – forcing Dom into a betrayal of his family? It’s best not to over-analyze it…

Tess, from the CIA is there to help Dom. Aimes, from the CIA is there to take Dom in. Dante is there to shoot everyone and in general raise havoc. Some of the Team is in London, and Letty and Cypher are in a secret Black site prison. They are about to break out.  Jakob has taken Dom’s son and gotten him to a secure ‘safe house’ in Portugal.

Dom goes with Aimes to retrieve his son. Tess is sidelined, and now Aimes believes that Dom needs to get this thing done. The ‘safe house’ gets compromised. Jakob takes Dom’s son and works to elude all of Dante’s evil minions. The Team in London finds a way to fly to Portugal. Except for Deckard – he stays in London to fight off any evil minions coming for Queenie.

Dom and Jakob get revving up on the Portugal highways. Dom’s son is safe. The Team members are coming in a plane full of gear to use when they take down Dante. But Dante still some tricks up his sleeve, and a few sneaky allies on his side. There is a noble sacrifice, and terrible death. There is a hidden threat and a new betrayal to Dom’s Team in the plane. There is a long-departed ally ready to help Letty and Cypher. It’s best not to over-analyze it…

“Fast X” is another in the long list of movies where you need to put your brain into idle as the muscle cars rev up. The story is overly convoluted and crazy. But that is part of the pure joy of this franchise. Suspend your disbelief as you watch Dom and his crew suspend the laws of gravity, the laws of physics – hell – even the laws of nature. Characters that are dead don’t need to stay that way. It’s best not to over-analyze it…

Jason Momoa surely loves the fact he can go hog-wild playing the role of Dante. His performance is cranked up to X, I mean Ten, plus he puts a little extra on top. Vin Diesel nails his typical Dom character, with every growl and smirk played out fully. He always looks like he just sucked down a lemon. But that is half the fun. It is a mental workout attempting to keep track of all the characters and where they are at the moment.

“Fast X” is an exciting and wild ride, as expected, with Dom taking care of ‘family’. So when his son is old enough for high school – will it be “Fast and Furious at Torreto High”?