Fast X was directed Louis Leterrier and co-written by Justin Lin. This is the 11th film in the franchise and serves as directed sequel to “F9” while still carrying over events from the 2011 film, “Fast Five”. The film sees the majority of the cast return including Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Jordana Brewster, Tyrese Gibson, Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, Nathalie Emmanuel, Sung Kang, Scott Eastwood, John Cena, Jason Statham, Helen Mirren & Charlize Theron. The newcomers include Jason Momoa, Brie Larson, Alan Ritchson, Rita Moreno & Daniela Melchior. According to Diesel, this film marks the first of the end. Fast X is supposedly the first chapter in a 2-part movie that will end the franchise once and for all even with the rumors of more spin-offs and a possible “Hobbs & Shaw” sequel looming.

At the end of “Fast Five” in 2011, we saw Dom Toretto (Diesel) & Brian O’Conner (played by Paul Walker) dispose of the corrupted businessman, Hernan Reyes (played by Joaquin de Almeida). However, during their high-speed chase on the bridge, Hernan’s son, Dante (Momoa), was left for dead in the mayhem but manages to escape. In the present day, the cyberterrorist known as Cipher (Theron) is attacked by Dante who turns her own team against her and leaves her for dead. With no other option, Cipher turns to Dom for help and warns him that his family is in danger. Dante uses false information to lure Tej (Parker), Roman (Gibson), Ramsey (Emmanuel) & Han (Kang) to Rome for a mission in Rome. Dom & Letty (Rodriguez) try to stop them. Little do they know, Dante also has team sent after Dom’s son back in LA. There, Mia (Brewster) & Jakob (Cena) fend off Dante’s men and protect Dom’s son. Dante separates the team with Cipher & Letty arrested, Tej, Roman, Ramsey & Han on the run and Dom must enlist the help of Tess (Larson), a secret agent & the daughter of Mr. Nobody (played by Kurt Rusell) who warns Dom that the new leader of Mr. Nobody’s agency, Aimes (Ritchson) has made him and his team public enemy number 1. Now, with Dom and his family on the run once again and far apart from each other, the race is on to save each other from one man’s quest for revenge & a new secret agent with the old philosophy of good and evil coming after him as well.

This film was a real stretch after the last one, but it was not an improvement. It’s the same film as we’ve seen since “Fast & Furious 6”. Story wise it was okay as a revenge scheme. It wasn’t anything we hadn’t seen before. A generic plot with solid action sequences. The only standout to me was Jason Momoa’s performance as the main villain. His performance was a great as an over-the-top villain. It reminded me of Nicholas Cage in “Face/Off”. It’s cheesy and campy along with the rest of the film but then again, the villain performances in these movies have improved since part 6. From Luke Evans to Jason Statham & Charlize Theron, Momoa is a fantastic and makes the film much more entertaining than it is.

Overall, this was not a terrible by any means but outside of its star power and high-octane action, these films have become complacent and dull and predictable. The rumor is that this may the final chapter in the “Fast” saga but according to Vin Diesel, there may be 1 or even 2 more film to wrap this story up once and for all. These films have always been entertaining to an extent but in all honesty, they should’ve ended after Paul Walker died or ended with “The Fate of the Furious”. When bring back characters who were previously killed off, not only does it lessen the impact of the death scene but ruins the flow & motivation aspects of certain characters. Do characters really die in this franchise? Or is it all just a ploy to people to come to the franchise?