FAST X

FAST X is a direct sequel to the FAST AND FURIOUS movie FAST FIVE, wherein the son of the Brazilian drug lord killed in FAST FIVE hatches an elaborate revenge plot against Dom and his friends and family, to make them suffer for what they did to his father. FAST X contains some new impressive action sequences, increases the personal stakes in the franchise by having the villain target the hero’s young son, and has overt references to faith and Jesus, but the amount of foul language is still slightly excessive, so extreme caution is advised.

The movie opens with a flashback to 10 years ago when Dom and his friends fought with a drug lord, Hernan Reyes, in Rio de Janeiro. The drug lord had killed some DEA agents, as well as agents from the Diplomatic Security Service Agency. So, Dom and his friends teamed up with two officers from “the Agency” to take $100 million in illicit money from Reyes that he placed in a large vault. Ten years later, the drug lord’s son, Dante Reyes, hatches an elaborate scheme to take revenge on Dom and his friends and family for his father’s death.

Cut to present day in Los Angeles. Dom and his friends and family are having some family time with Dom’s grandmother. The Agency calls Dom’s friends, Roman, Tej and Han, to travel to Rome to stop a powerful computer chip from getting into the wrong hands. While they’re away, Dom and his wife, Letty, get a visit from the escaped female cyberterrorist Cipher, who’s been seriously wounded by Dante. She tells them Dante tried to kill her and is after his friends in Rome.

Dom and Letty travel to Rome to warn their friends while Dom’s sister, Mia, takes care of Dom’s young son, Brian. They discover that the armored truck supposedly carrying the computer chip is actually carrying a bomb. With Dom in a fast car and Letty riding a fast motorcycle, they and the team try to stop the bomb from exploding in the center of Vatican City. Using a jamming device, they manage to steer the bomb into the nearby Tiber River, but the huge shock wave causes some damage.

However, the authorities capture Letty and accuse her, Dom and their friends of being the ones behind Dante’s terrorist attack. They send Letty to an unknown black site for interrogation. Sadly, Dom’s friend at the Agency, “Mr. Nobody,” is still missing, and the new man in charge, Ames, thinks it’s high time the Agency end its association with Dom’s team. So, Dom and his friends have to evade the authorities while they figure out a way to get Letty out of prison and stop Dante from killing them all.

Meanwhile, Dom’s brother, Jakob, arrives in Los Angeles and takes over their sister, Mia’s, duties protecting Dom’s son, Brian. Dom’s son is named after his friend, Brian, Mia’s husband, and Mia leaves to be with her husband, who’s trying to protect their own two children, who also will probably be targeted by Dante and his men.

How can Dom protect his son from the wrath of this mad avenger?

The transformation of the FAST & FURIOUS movies into a tentpole franchise about a team of fast-driving heroes battling super criminals began with FAST FIVE. As a direct sequel to that movie, FAST X not only doubles the mathematical number of the title, it also doubles down on the action. For example, in FAST FIVE, Dom uses his car to drag around a large vault containing the villain’s money. So, in FAST X, the villain’s son forces Dom to chase down and divert a large metal ball containing a bomb. The action sequence in Rome with the bomb is one of the most spectacular, entertaining sequences in the whole franchise.

As usual, the new FAST & FURIOUS movie promotes family, and friends are seen as part of the family. The movie also promotes sacrifice and honor. This time out, though, faith is linked overtly to the cherished cross necklaces that Dom and his brother, Jakob, received from their father. In the movie, Dom and Jakob pass down that symbolically Christocentric faith down to Dom’s son, Brian.

In contrast to the two brothers, the movie depicts the villain as an agent of chaos. Jason Momoa plays the villain as a sadistic, androgynous madman. As such, the character offers a well-deserved critique of the transgender subculture that’s waging a culture war today against Nature and Nature’s God. In fact, the villain makes a great contrast to the honorable masculinity and faith projected by Vin Diesel, the heroic icon behind the FAST & FURIOUS movies that’s made the movies so popular. MOVIEGUIDE® wonders if leftist critics will catch this apparent critique of modern-day attacks on traditional, biblical distinctions between male and female.

FAST X has significantly less foul language than recent FAST & FURIOUS movies, but it’s still slightly excessive and contains one “f” word and three strong profanities joining about 20 “s” and “h” obscenities. So, MOVIEGUIDE® still advises extreme caution.

FAST X ends on a cliffhanger, which leads to a sequel in 2025 that may be the second part of a trilogy (details are still sketchy).