Xtreme Vogue London Desk: Judith Benjamin
Star Cast: Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Jason Statham, Jason Momoa, Brie Larson, John Cena, Charlize Theron, Tyrese Gibson, Ludacris, Nathalie Emmanuel, Sung Kang, Jason Statham, Scott Eastwood, Alan Ritchson, Rita Moreno
Director: Louis Leterrier (Replacing Justin Lin at the last moment)
What’s Good: The grand vision of certain action set pieces & the fact that it’s coming to an end
What’s Bad: I decided to do a ‘family’ counter and failed to keep track post the 27th time
Loo Break: Every single time you hear the word ‘family’ from any actor, run to the loo because there’s a lot of BS coming in posts that
Watch or Not?: Only if you were able to sit through the 9th one, this would be easier to gulp in
Available On: Theatrical Release
Runtime: 141 Minutes
User Rating:
Despite being a direct sequel to Fast 9, this one starts with stitching my favourite scene from the entire franchise bringing back a significant character that no one expected. Without spoiling, it joins the current instalment with a previous part which is not F9.
Cipher delivers the bad news of Dante Reyes (Jason Momoa) hunting for Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) like a madman, which resembles Aquaman having s*x with Joker and having come back for an act of revenge. How the ‘family’, old and new, reunites to fight with one common enemy trying to finish them all.
Script Analysis
Dan Mazeau, Justin Lin & Zach Dean’s story tries to pack in a lot by briefly touching everything and packaging nothing to drag the ‘non-action’ sequences. The film holds your attention only when the lavish ‘saving Seven Hills of Rome from an on-fire mega-sized iron ball’ kind of action set pieces take place & fortunately, there are multiple of them.
But, unfortunately, actors performing high-octane stunt scenes are lesser than actors following the ‘la Familia’ formula of the story. I watched the show amidst fans who’ll cheer over Cillian Murphy’s Oppenheimer poster on a ‘Videography During The Film Is A Crime’ warning creative, the enthu-cutlets. Hence, I felt the ‘fan-service’ portion of the narrative as well. There was a cheer at every juncture writers must’ve already predicted while writing the story. Another obvious thing that was on-the-face predictable was the film’s twists & turns.
While getting into any fight sequence, you know who’s going to win even before the landing of the first punch. That impacts the already draggy screenplay by Dan Mazeau and Justin Lin. Stephen F. Windon’s camerawork brings in some new touches, like the style of shifting the camera in a long shot.
Star Performance
Vin Diesel looks as interested in playing Dom as Salman Khan looked in playing Bhaijaan in Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan. In a couple of days, he announced, there will be one more film before it all ends, clearly displaying how badly the film studio has been trying to optimally milk the current position of the franchise.
Michelle Rodriguez starts with being an important part of the story but very quickly fades into oblivion, welcoming the other clutter throughout the film. Jason Statham, Brie Larson, John Cena, Charlize Theron, Tyrese Gibson, Ludacris, Nathalie Emmanuel, Sung Kang, Scott Eastwood, Alan Ritchson & Rita Moreno look like they’re completing a formality by participating in the family reunion drama.
Direction, Music
Louis Leterrier (Transporter 2, Now You See Me) was brought in at the last moment when Justin Lin left over a significant script disagreement with Vin Diesel. Post watching the film, I feel Lin must’ve been right with his version. Yep, Fast 9 was a sh*thole paradise, but this one had potential.
Brian Tyler has the pulse of an ‘F&F fan’, and that’s why he delivers it every single time, including this one.
The Last Word
All said and done, contrary to its title, this franchise is on its way to getting a ‘Slow & Tedious’ conclusion, thanks to taking the family BS too seriously, adding unnecessary clutter which ain’t a ‘1 Man/John Wick’ show for #VinDiesel to achieve, who has outstayed his FAMILY’s welcome.
Two and a half stars!
Fast X Trailer
Fast X releases on 19th May 2023.
