So, here’s the thing about the Fast and the Furious films: they are, generally speaking, perfectly entertaining action movies as long as you do not, for even a moment, think about what’s going on. These movies are the ultimate “turn your brain off and don’t think about it” sort of movie. That’s fine for what it is, and if nothing else, there’s a general guarantee that there will at least be some good car stunts involved.
With that in mind, I did go to see the newest one.
In what was perhaps the single most impressive set piece this franchise has ever pulled off, Dom Toretto (Vin Diesel) and his friend/brother-in-law Brian (the late Paul Walker, seen here in archival footage) once swiped a drug lord’s vault from a bank and towed it through the streets of Rio. That stunt ended with the death of the drug lord in question, but his son Dante (Jason Momoa) survived and set in motion an act of revenge a decade in the making. See, Dante was taught by his father that someone like Dom need to suffer and lose everything that matters to him before finally killing him. Since Dom has assembled a rather large family through both blood and adoption (so to speak), he has a lot to lose. Dante is just the sadistic sort of person who would allow that to happen.
That comes at a time when longtime enemy Cipher (Charlize Theron) shows up at Dom’s door to issue a warning. She just lost her best tech to Dante when he literally walked into her front door and essentially took it. At that moment, most of Dom’s crew are off running a mission for Little Nobody (Scott Eastwood), leaving behind only Dom, Letty (Michelle Rodriguez), and his son Little B (Leo Abelo Perry). Small problem: Little Nobody didn’t send any such mission. The whole thing is a trap, one that will send Dom, Letty, the rest of the crew, and even Little B under the watchful eye of his Uncle Jakob (John Cena) to the ends of the Earth as Dante always seems to be just one step ahead of them. It might take more than some fancy driving to save the day this time.
I said above that it is always best not to think about these movies, and quite frankly, even the movies themselves are self-aware enough to admit how absolutely nuts these things are. After all, this is a franchise that somehow would have you believe Diesel, Cena, and Jordana Brewster are all siblings and descended from Rita Moreno. Everyone involved basically knows what kind of movies they are making, and Momoa is a good addition since it looks like most every other large slab of famous acting muscle has at least passed through this series. And, quite frankly, he fits in well here. He’s having a ball playing a rather androgynous figure, one who seems far too relaxed to be this dangerous, but is probably the right fit for this franchise. He’s at least a better villain than Cipher, given she tended to spout off half-assed philosophy while doing her evil deeds. Dante just does evil and enjoys himself.
That said, maybe this series has started getting too old for me. Fast X is not bad or anything, but at this point, what tricks are there left for this series to pull off? There’s still a lot for fans to like. For whatever reason, the series always been able to attract top talent for the front of the camera at least, and it isn’t unusual for a character, even one presumed dead for multiple movies, to return with whatever crazy explanation there might be for it. This one managed to get a return from Helen Mirren and the debuts of Moreno and Brie Larson. That sort of franchise memory may not make this particular movie all that welcoming to newcomers, but fans will probably appreciate it. But as much as this one had the standard car stunts, I can’t say I was as thrilled as I have been for past installments. Maybe because this one ends on a clear cliffhanger (there’s one or two more movies left), but I wasn’t digging this one as much. Momoa and Cena actually turn in interesting performances, but the rest felt a lot like many other such movies in this series, and not necessarily in a good way.
Grade: C+
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