Reviews

The Fast and Furious series has now reached its tenth installment – so you should know exactly what to expect from this high-octane action franchise.

This outing, directed by Now You See Me‘s Louis Leterrier, begins by revisiting 2011’s Fast Five and the moment Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) and his crew stole a vault from a drug lord named Hernan Reyes.

It turns out Hernan had a son named Dante Reyes (Jason Momoa) and he is determined to exact revenge on Dom for the death of his father and the loss of the family fortune.

For the vast majority of the film, the core crew are separated, with Dom facing off against Dante on his own, Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) taken away from the “family”, and Tej (Ludacris), Roman (Tyrese Gibson), Han (Sung Kang) and Ramsey (Nathalie Emmanuel) on the run together.

It’s a shame we don’t get to see them as a full team after the big Rome set-piece, but they will likely reunite in a satisfying way in the second half of this two-part installment.

This film has to jump around storylines, characters and locations a lot so it doesn’t have the usual momentum.

But, on the positive side, it means there are more action sequences on a smaller scale in addition to the insane set-pieces that defy the laws of physics.

It also means there are so many characters, both familiar and new. Leterrier clearly wanted to bring back old faces while adding in newcomers, but there’s only so much time in the movie so some end up seriously underused.

For example, Brie Larson is a fun addition as Tess, but the character is ultimately pointless.

The best new addition is Momoa, who is clearly having such fun playing the sadistic bad guy, who is flamboyant to pantomime levels. He steals all of his scenes, gets the most laughs and is easily the best aspect of this film.

Tej and Roman still deliver the goods in the comedy department and their storyline is certainly the comic relief section.

John Cena’s Jakob – who was the villain in the last film – has dramatically transformed into an odd, funny person in this. It makes no sense for the character, but Cena is great at playing the fool so this was the ideal fit for him.

The script and acting are not the best, but we’re at the tenth film in the franchise, so we should know not to expect this.

The movies are all about high-octane action and it does not disappoint in that regard. While they are totally ridiculous, the set-pieces are entertaining to watch and well-executed.

Fast X won’t convert any newcomers to the franchise but it should please long-standing fans. Switch your brain off at the door and enjoy the ride.

In cinemas from Friday 19th May.

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