Having driven all the way to the International Space Station in F9, Fast X sensibly confines itself to the boundaries of Earth. The latest Fast & Furious movie is an unbridled, thrilling adrenaline rush that pushes humans, automobiles and action to the limit.
Franchise veteran Louis Letterier is firmly in charge of a film that has the responsibility of dreaming up imaginative ways to deliver high-octane stand-offs as well set up events for a sequel intended for 2025. Dom Toretto (Vin Diesel), still harping away on the importance of family and friendship, is up against a new arch-enemy. His name gives an idea of this film’s Christian lite themes as well as the inferno that awaits Dom and his crew.
Dante (Jason Momoa) is fond of crocodile skin jackets and blowing things up. With a giggle borrowed from the unhinged Batman villains and a flamboyant style that places him on the spectrum of gender identity, Dante might have been cute if he wasn’t so hell-bent on vengeance. Momoa’s hilarious pirouetting puts the resident Fast & Furious clowns Roman (Tyrese Gibson) and Tej (Ludacris) to shame.
Events links back to the previous Fast & Furious films, especially the fifth edition. Dom’s adorable son Brian (Leo Abelo Perry) is now old enough to be introduced to The Legacy (Dom is big on this too). Nearly everybody from the previous movies is back, from Jason Statham’s Deckard Shaw to Charlize Theron’s Cipher and John Cena’s Jakob.
Even Deckard’s mummy Queenie (Helen Mirren) isn’t left out. The new characters include Brie Larson as Mr Nobody’s daughter Tess and Alan Ritchson as Aimes, Mr Nobody’s replacement. Yet another F&F regular makes a return, while a mid-credits sequence has a surprise in store.
The stakes are higher – Dante is a formidable adversary – and the action is designed to stun. Among the miracles that take place across the globe-trotting plot is a globular bomb that wrecks much of Rome’s tourist strip and a vault strapped to a car that is weaponised to gobsmacking effect. Cars and a repurposed bobsled cover the distance between planes in the sky and the roads below without a care in the world. The 140-minute film lives up to its title: it’s ten times faster than its previous editions, and better than most of them too.