Fast X (2023)

Fast X is the latest installment in the long-running Fast and Furious franchise, a series known for its over-the-top action sequences and charismatic characters. While the film delivers on the action front, it falters in terms of storytelling and character development.

The film's plot is convoluted, with numerous twists and turns that often feel forced and unnecessary. The villain, played by Jason Momoa, is a flamboyant and cartoonish character who, while entertaining, lacks the depth and menace of previous antagonists. The series' signature car chases and stunts are still impressive, but they've become increasingly outlandish, pushing the boundaries of believability.

The core cast members, including Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, and Tyrese Gibson, reprise their roles with their usual energy and chemistry. However, their characters feel one-dimensional, lacking the emotional depth that made them compelling in earlier films. The new additions to the cast, such as Brie Larson and Daniela Melchior, are underutilized and fail to make a significant impact.

Overall, Fast X is a fun, loud, and visually stunning film that will satisfy fans of the franchise. However, it lacks the heart and soul that made the earlier films so beloved. While the action sequences are undeniably thrilling, the film's convoluted plot and underdeveloped characters ultimately hold it back from reaching its full potential. 

Reviewing the Fast and Furious movies is something of a challenge. None of the F&F movies are actually any good as movies, but many of them are really, really good at being F&F movies. "Good" and "bad" mean very different things in Fast and Furious movies than they do to virtually the entire rest of cinema. "Good" usually doesn't involve things like good acting, smart storytelling or giving a stuff about the willing suspension of disbelief, but "bad" has almost nothing to do with being silly, over-the-top, or far-fetched. Well, almost nothing.
Well, it's pretty bad. Obviously, but the good news is that it's only pretty bad as a regular movie. As a Fast and Furious, though, it's easily the best since at least the 7th one, possibly even the 6th.
The problems are obvious. Vin Diesel is a really bad actor, very wooden. The film has more characters than it knows what to do with. There's no sense of actual jeopardy as the series has resurrected so many dead characters that we may as well treat the Fast gang as immortals. The action set pieces are less realistic than a roadrunner cartoon – and have roughly the same fidelity to the laws of physics. 
It's total crap, but in the best Fast and Furious tradition, it is super enjoyable crap. Fans can breathe a collective sigh of relief after the 9th movie seemed to lose even the most die-hard of them because this is what we want from the series.
Louis Leterrier (The Transporter, The Incredible Hulk) steps into the director's chair, replacing series regular Justin Lin – who is still around as co-writer with Dan Mazeau – and he breathes some new life into the action sequences. They're still ridiculous, and they're still CG-heavy, but they're propulsive and less over-edited than some of the other instalments in the series. They're also on just the right side of ridiculous, so while you may laugh, for example, at the idea that almost no one died during the film's first proper action scene involving our heroes trying to stop a gigantic runaway bomb from destroying the Vatican by all but entirely destroying Rome, the action itself is still – well, okay, it's completely ludicrous, but it's ludicrous within limits.
It also definitely helps that though the film's revenge-centric plot is hardly new for the series, it junks the more convoluted spy stuff for something much more stripped down. Admittedly, with this many characters to serve (along with established faces, we also have even more new additions in the form of Brie Larson, Alan Ritchson and Daniela Melchior), the film is still massively overstuffed. Because most of our central characters are split up across the globe for most of the movie, it constantly has to shift focus between each one of them to give each their time in the sun. It's good bang for your buck, but it doesn't exactly help the film's breakneck, but still sometimes weirdly plodding pace.
What really sets Fast X apart, though, is its ace in the hole: Jason Momoa. As a direct counterpart to Vin Diesel, who still seems like the only one in the cast still taking any of this remotely seriously, Momoa has quickly shot to the top of the list of series bad guys by being just as over-the-top as he can be.
In conclusion, this movie is just crap.  They need to stop making these things.