Fast X

 Last time, I said that The Fast Saga will end in two more movies. Guess what? Universal wants to go for number twelve. That means, this time, The Fast Saga will end in two more movies. At least nothing went wrong with the screening for this entry, Fast X. Yay.

It turns out that Hernan Reyes (Joaquin de Almeida), the drug lord that Dom Toretto (Vin Diesel) and his crew dealt with in Fast Five has a son named Dante (Jason Mamoa). Dante led the chase when Team Dom made off with the old man's safe. It didn't end well for him. 

Ten years later, Dante kicks off his revenge scheme. That involves tricking the crew into a Rome heist and framing them as nuclear terrorists. Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) is arrested along with former villain Cipher (Charlize Theron), Dom pursues Dante himself, and Roman (Tyrese Gibson), Tej (Ludacris), Han (Sung Kang) and Ramsey (Nathalie Emmanuel) try to find help in London. Meanwhile, Jakob Toretto (John Cena) takes his nephew, Little Brian (Leo Abelo Perry), to safety.

Everybody got that?

I think you know this franchise's stock and trade by now. But where do our heroes go from space? The climax involves racing down an exploding dam, while Jakob and Little Brian drop from a passenger jet in a miniature plane. It seems kind of ordinary. Team Dom's overlong Rome heist is a bit exhausting. But I liked the film's opening, in which it reworks Dante into Fast Five's climactic heist. Mamoa and de Almeida's de-aging and the editing are seamless here. A second favorite is the four-way street race Dante, Dom and a few others partake in. The paint jobs on those cars are alluring.

Mamoa runs circles around the main cast with gusto. His Dante makes for one of the most instantly memorable villains in the series. He wins the aforementioned street race with explosive cheating. He regularly threatens the loved ones of his enemies. He even has tea-time with the corpses of a few victims. Mamoa is clearly having fun as a dangerous and childish fop, while his chemistry with Dom is beyond entertaining. 

The film struggles to balance the franchise's ever-growing ensemble with its multitude of subplots. In addition to the ones up top, we also have Isabel (Daniela Melchior), the never-before mentioned sister of Dom's lost love, Elena. Dom and Jakob's subplots lead the way, while Roman and co.'s subplot is rendered anti-climactic by the cliffhanger finale. The finale involves a profound heroic sacrifice. But who wants to bet they'll turn up alive like Han did last time, or another character who shows up just before the credits? On a positive note, Rita Moreno makes the most of her limited screentime as Dom's grandma, while Alan Ritchson is fine as law-abiding antagonist Agent Aimes.

Yes, the Fast and Furious movies are supposed to be silly action films. But they also hope its audience has done its homework concerning the other films. It's an unusual contradiction. Here's hoping the next few films have better plot traffic than this one. Anyone looking for wild speed action will get it in Fast X. Despite a few gripes, the fast and furious cars are still fun to watch. But it's Mamoa's flamboyant and threatening villain that makes the film's 141-minutes worth it. Here's to his comeuppance.