The stakes have never been higher for Dom and his family, now with a vengeful son of an ex-enemy on their heels, the threat has been turned up to 10!
We are now into the tenth instalment of the ‘Fast’ franchise and we have come a long way from the crew stealing VHS players in modified Mitsubishis. The franchise has grown into an all out explosive and fist bashing exercise of cinema and the who’s who of action stars and previous characters are back in force. The threat this time comes from Dante Reyas played by Jason Momoa, son of Hernan Reyes who Dom and co dispatched and robbed of his fortune in ‘Fast Five’. He has sworn to take everything from Dom and make him suffer as he has. Momoa really brings out the best of this villain, one comparison I drew is that of Heath Ledgers Joker, as they share a certain maniacal side which makes every scene he is in fun!
The ‘Fast’ films have indeed gone a long way from their humble roots and in many eyes have gone downhill and not stuck to what they are all about. The stakes keep getting higher and higher which means each subsequent film has to outdo the last. It was this reason that I went in with fairly low expectations, mainly as Fast 8 and 9 are not really worth mentioning. However, I was pleasantly surprised! Yes the film is full of physics defying stunts and unlimited and unrestricted air travel that allows our stars to hop from Brazil to Rome and then to London without any hindrance. Where this film shines in my eyes is the cast, they really do all gel together well now and I ally feel comfortable in their characters. I shan’t use the word family as that is as common in this franchise as a cold corona. It does feel that way.
We get some new members to group – most notably – Tess played by Brie Larson and Aimes portrayed by Alan Ritchson. Ritchson has replaced Mr Nobody (Tess’s dad) as the head of the Agency. The agency are the organisation that consistently hires the Toretto gang to do the jobs they can’t or won’t do… These two additions add even more stars to this star studded cast. Ritchson particularly is a small addition but will have far reaching implications when the series gets concluded.
Overall this film is a fun watch and would be worth seeing for sure if you are invested in the franchise. We get genuine humour, thrills, over the top CGI and also emotion. That last one was not one I was expecting, of course the franchise lost the great Paul Walker so every subsequent film has had a shadow cast over it. However, this aside the film does resonate genuine feel, especially the scenes with Dom and his Son. This culminates in the cliff hanger ending. We are expecting at least one more film to finish off the franchise however, there are rumblings that there could be two more…
When we do say goodbye to this family it will be a sad day as it has been a mainstay for the past twenty years. Until then, grab the popcorn and go watch this film for some nonsensical action with more heart than most of the recent Marvel films.
Author: Tom, Bath Store
