Fast X marks a definite improvement over F9 (a sequel I still had fun with) for me and might even be my favorite installment of the franchise since the 7th installment. This is a beyond prosperous & incoherent film where logic simply does not exist, but of course you are already aware of that. For as flawed as these films are, they continue to embrace every bit of the absurdity and I continue to have a great deal of fun while doing the very same. This is clearly Vin Diesel and family trying to do their own Infinity War saga and as ridiculous as that sounds that angle honestly worked for me here.
I had a lot of apprehension about director Louis Leterrier stepping into the chair for Justin Lin as the latter clearly understands this franchise better than any other director, but Leterrier's work is solid. Despite some shoddy VFX work, the action definitely improves from the previous installment and the Rome set piece is one of the best for the entire series. I kind of regret not seeing this one in IMAX for that sequence alone. Some of the fight scenes are pretty good too, although of course nothing in this series will ever match the bank vault chase or Dom vs Hobbs in Fast Five. As a fan of the entire saga, I appreciate that this one also brings back a little bit of the street racing roots as there's that one race sequence heavily featured in the trailers that just very much felt like classic Fast & Furious.
The returning cast is exactly what you expect, and I say that as a compliment. Vin Diesel is Vin Diesel and still hasn't lost a step as the patriarchy of the Dominic Toretto family. The chemistry between Tyresse & Ludacris still hasn't grown old for me, they still remain one of my favorite aspects of these films. Han is still super cool. Charlize Theron remains a bit underused as Cipher, but at least they ditched that awful wig. As for the new players, I really liked both Brie Larson as Tess and Daniela Melchior as Isabel. I'd like to see more of both characters. Alan Ritchson fittingly hams it up as Aimes. But by far the MVP of this entire film is Jason Momoa as our villain. Momoa embodies "he understood the assignment" and makes his Dante Reyes The Joker to Dominic Toretto's Batman. The franchise has had its share of memorable baddies, but Dante may have easily just taken the crown. Momoa chews up scenery and just looks like he is having the time of his life in this role.
The same flaws of previous films are still very active here. The storyline remains completely nonsensical (although almost a little toned down at least compared to #9 at least) and I just don't even try to make any sense of these films anymore because it's more fun that way. Cartoons remain more realistic. The stakes are higher than ever before, but these films continue to undermine that by bringing back all of these dead characters. Even when our beloved heroes are in peril it's impossible to feel like the decisions made in this film will remain sustained. There are plenty of surprise cameos, but thanks to Vin Diesel and the studio leaking everything the film is mostly devoid of real surprises. Much of the dialogue is also just taken straight out of a soap opera which is obviously what these films have become. And while I was never once bored watching this, there's really no need for it to be 2 and a half hours long. The first half and the climatic showdown are pretty great, but the middle does lag a bit. That cliffhanger is cool, but also cynical and eye rolling.
Maybe the best piece of compliment I can give Fast X (aside from Momoa's batshit insane performance), I walked out of this one feeling much more excited for the next one than I did with F9. It's more of middle tier Fast & Furious than top tier (5 through 7 will clearly always remain the peak of the series), but this fan still walked away feeling satisfied and hungry for the next part of the finale. I do hope Vin was just punking us when he said this finale will now be a trilogy instead of a two-parter, but I guess we shall see. Maybe just don't drop a ridiculous $340 million on the next one?
Final Grade: B