Tonight's Movie: Fast X (2023)

There's a reason the Fast and Furious series has lasted 22 years and counting: It gives the fans what they want. The tenth entry in the series, FAST X (2023), certainly does so...and how!

FAST X runs 2 hours and 21 minutes, and while I'm a fan of shorter films, I was having so much fun that this movie never felt long to me. I can't think of a higher compliment.

Best of all, the movie had a couple surprises in store in the final minutes which found me both applauding and laughing in shock. Those moments were delightful, with the promises of more to come. And that's all I'll say on that score, in the interest of keeping this review relatively spoiler-free for future viewers.

The FAST X plot spins off of happenings in FAST FIVE (2011) a dozen years ago -- remember Dom (Vin Diesel) and Brian (Paul Walker) dragging a vault with their cars? That incident ended with the death of Reyes (Joaquin de Almeida), and now his son Dante (Jason Momoa, AQUAMAN) is ready to make Dom pay. Momoa definitely has an impact as a psycho killer.

Dante attempts to make Dom suffer by losing his own family, including his wife Letty (Michelle Rodriguez), son Little Brian, aka "B" (Leo Abelo Perry), sister Mia (Jordana Brewster), and the wider circle of family and close friends including Han (Sung Kang), Ramsey (Nathalie Emmanuel), Tej (Chris "Ludacris" Bridges), Roman (Tyrese Gibson), and Jakob (John Cena), Dom's formerly estranged brother who is back in the fold.

Needless to say everyone unites to battle Dante and especially to protect Little B. Along the way we also meet up with old friends such as Little Nobody (Scott Eastwood), Queenie (Helen Mirren), and most deliciously, Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham).

Statham, my favorite of all the characters in the series, only has a couple of scenes, but they're excellent, and again, I anticipate seeing more of him next time around.

Kurt Russell's spy boss Mr. Nobody has gone to ground at this point and only appears in a photograph, but his daughter Tess, aka Little Miss Nobody, puts in time helping Dom. She's played with nice touches of humor and bravado by Bree Larson (CAPTAIN MARVEL).

There's also a cameo by the late Paul Walker's daughter Meadow as a helpful flight attendant, and Rita Moreno plays Dom and Mia's Abuelita, who comes for a visit early in the film.

The fearsome villainess Cipher (Charlize Theron) is also on hand, but this time it's a "The enemy of my enemy is my friend" situation. It might be a little hard to believe, considering she killed Little B's mother (Elsa Pataky) in a past film, but her temporarily uniting with Letty certainly keeps things interesting.

It's telling that this time around the film opens rather than closes with a meal around the table in Dom's L.A. backyard, as there is literally no ending to this film, it simply stops at a certain point. FAST X is said to be the first of a final trilogy to cap the series. We'll see. (Incidentally, I need to count how many times Dom has had to rebuild his house over the decades...)

As always, the movie is part racing film, part superhero movie, and part soap opera; the recurring characters and traditions also make me think of the '40s "B" series films I love -- these films just have really big budgets!

Some viewers like to belittle these films as unbelievable cartoons, but I'm certainly not one of them. They've brought me a great deal of joy over the years, including this one.

The movie was directed by Louis Leterrier and filmed by Stephen F. Windon. Locations included Portugal, Italy, and England.

Parental Advisory: This film is rated PG-13. There is one scene my daughter told me to avoid watching, and I followed her advice. Otherwise it's the same as always -- lots of wrecks, no gore. The child in danger theme is also kept to a minimum as he's well protected by family. As ever, dedication to family remains a key theme.

A trailer is here.

It may be worth noting for clarity's sake that while this is FAST X, there are actually 11 films, including HOBBS & SHAW.

Previous reviews in this series: THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS (2001), 2 FAST 2 FURIOUS (2003), THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS: TOKYO DRIFT (2006), FAST & FURIOUS (2009), FAST FIVE (2011), FAST & FURIOUS 6 (2013), FURIOUS 7 (2015), THE FATE OF THE FURIOUS (2017), FAST & FURIOUS PRESENTS: HOBBS & SHAW (2019), and F9: THE FAST SAGA (2021).  

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