'Fast X' Speeds into Theaters This Weekend
by EG
Fast X, the tenth installment in the car-based action fantasy "Fast" franchise will hit theaters this weekend and will like take the top box-office slot away from defending champion Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. As Game of Thrones star Jason Momoa joins the franchise, it remains to be seen if the action flick will be the blockbuster that defines the summer movie season. Read on for details.
Via Variety.
Every race needs a finish line. For the “Fast & Furious” franchise, the studio keeps shoving it farther down the road, at least according to Vin Diesel, who suggested at the world premiere of the 10th installment -- a brainless but action-packed thrill ride billed as “Fast X” -- that Universal might split the “finale” over three movies. Why not seven? Or 20 more, for that matter? That might allow Diesel to merge these increasingly desperate sequels with his other running-on-fumes franchise, “XXX.”
The producer-star has a way of mouthing off around the release of each new “Fast” movie (remember hints that an all-female spinoff might be coming?), which feels counterproductive, considering that a key part of Diesel’s appeal comes from the rumbling-Harley-voiced actor’s capacity to reduce complex thoughts to terse catchphrases. He’ll squint his eyes, crack that sideways smile and spout something inane (“I don’t have friends, I got family”), and it will sound profound. Gearhead philosophy, or “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance,” served up with popcorn.
But two more movies to finish off this franchise? That’s too much. It’s bad enough that “Fast X” is half a story: an elaborate reunion of all the A-list characters the previous nine movies introduced (yes, all of them), that starts-and-stalls its way toward a cliffhanger. The villain this time is Jason Momoa’s diabolical Dante, a flamboyant new character whom the best-to-ignore script retcons into series peak “Fast Five,” introducing him as the son of Brazilian crime lord Hernan Reyes, driven by vengeance to make Dominic Toretto (Diesel) and his crew “suffer.”
“There’s a war coming. Sides are being chosen, and everyone you love will be destroyed,” warns Charlize Theron’s super-hacker Cipher, who was also a villain last time we checked. But “the enemy of my enemy” and all that. I told you to ignore the script. The filmmakers did, to the point that “X” marks the spot where the property’s most dependable director, Justin Lin, called it quits. You may be tempted to do the same. Then again, if you’ve made it this far, you may as well hold on till “F11” or “FasTwelve.”
Lin, who helmed five of the previous films, cooked up a clever way to tie a series that had gone off the rails back to its agreed-upon high point -- back before it started resurrecting characters and pulling Looney Tunes stunts (“F9” found our heroes rocketing a red Fiero into space). Then he hit a wall. Enter Louis Leterrier, the French director of the relatively efficient “Transporter” movies, whose also made his share of gonzo effects epics, like “Clash of the Titans.”
Get the rest of the review at Variety.