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Volvo: Safety Beyond the Star RatingsFast X: The Beginning of the End
It’s the beginning of the end for the Fast & Furious franchise. Find out what we thought about Fast X and check out some of the cars seen on screen!
Fast X Has Hit Theaters!
The tenth installment of the Fast & Furious franchise is finally out, and it comes with a lot of mixed emotions. Fast X brings Dominic Toretto and his family back on screen to face a new threat to their lives – Jason Momoa’s newly introduced character Dante. Viewers are sent back to the events of Fast Five in which the crew pulls off the ultimate bank heist in Brazil and we see the retconned side story of Dante as the son of Herman Reyes, one of the antagonists of that film. After being wronged by Dom that day, Dante makes his presence known in the present day by explaining that he’s taking what matters most to him – his family.
Momoa plays a great bad guy throughout the film and is one of the shining parts of Fast X. We also get to see staple characters like Han, Tej, Roman, and Ramsey return to continue their onscreen chemistry along with some new characters joining the Fast & Furious extended lineage. There were even some faces that returned I honestly thought were long gone from the franchise, but this is Fast & Furious where nobody is ever gone for good.
Street racing unfortunately isn’t a major focal point to the Fast & Furious films anymore, and Fast X is no different. There is a race in Brazil, but the movie is otherwise action stunts and high-speed chases with cool cars now. I mean, that all makes sense once you consider that they’ve thrown in secret agencies, nuclear submarines, sci-fi weapons, and driven a Pontiac Fiero to space prior. Fast X does tone breaking the laws of physics slightly at least. The stunts seen throughout the film are still outlandish, but they’re at least somewhat based in reality… I mean if you consider what happened in the previous films they are.
Fast X was a fun movie, but fans were left with no resolution and a ton of questions about who will show up or even be back in the next film. But that’s what this movie was made to be, the first part to a multi-part finale to a long running franchise. The film did a nice job of providing subtle homages to the moments that led up to this film, brought back some favorite characters, and introduced feel good family moments with Little Brian interacting with his dad and uncle Jakob. However, the movie draws to a close with more questions than answers, leaving us wanting something more complete as we’re forced to wait for the next installment to find out what happened to a majority of the cast.
Fast X really is the beginning of the end, but some fans are really hoping that the next film actually is the end of the road so that this franchise can finally stop pushing the envelope farther and quit leaving its street racing beginnings further in the rearview mirror. Although, this feels like there may be plans pointing towards the “next generation” of the Fast & Furious franchise too. It’d be a good way to bring things back by having a younger generation racing around the streets of Los Angeles similar to what the first film had. Honestly though, they should just bring back the side stories like 2 Fast 2 Furious and Tokyo Drift so the franchise can return to its roots while still maintaining a few connections to the main cast.
What this all comes down to is this. If you’ve already gotten this far into the Fast & Furious franchise, then you pretty much have to follow through on completing the story by watching this and the next installments. It’s still a good watch and provides fans with what they’ve come to expect, but it is a lot of setup for the next film more than anything.
The Best Cars in Fast X
Sweet cars are a big part of what makes the Fast & Furious movies so alluring to car fans. There are awesome classics mixed with cool tuners and some blatant new car marketing. Fast X thankfully continues this trend by bringing us some more cars to ogle at as they speed by on screen. Here are some of our favorites from the movie that either had some story significance or were just cool to see pop up.
Dom’s 1970 Dodge Charger R/T
Dom’s Charger takes center stage once again, but it isn’t just him behind the wheel. Our first glimpse of the blacked-out muscle car in Fast X is of it whipping around a parking lot with Dom’s son, Little Brian, behind the wheel. It’s a nice moment between the two and probably something that Dom’s father had him doing at that age too. Dom continues to utilize the 1970 Dodge Charger R/T with the giant blower sticking out of the hood throughout the film. Possibly the most screen time this car has had throughout the whole series.
The Cars at the Toretto House
Fast X takes the cookout trope and places it at the beginning of this film this time around. The main family is all there, and we see some of their awesome cars parked out front. There’s a nice maroon and black Datsun 240Z, one of three Pagani Huayra Tricolore, and the Dodge Charger Daytona SRT EV concept somehow. We’re even shown the Chevrolet Chevelle SS that Dom handed over to his son as his project car sitting in the old garage.
Car Choices for Rome
Han, Roman, Tej, and Ramsey are sent to Rome by the agency for a mission. Roman gets behind the wheel of a golden Lamborghini Gallardo while Han drives an Alfa Romeo 2000 GT painted in similar colors to his old RX-7. Tej doesn’t drive much anymore it seems, but he does have a fun little RC car that’s introduced with a bobble head of his likeness. Things go haywire as Dante’s plans unfold, but Dom shows up in a Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Redeye Widebody to save the day.
Racing in Brazil
Dom travels to Brazil hoping to learn more about his new nemesis. This ends up with Dom in a high-stakes street race against Dante, Dom’s friend Diogo, and Isabel who happens to be the sister of Dom’s old flame, Elena. Dom is of course racing his ‘70 Charger, but his competitors have some great rides during this race too.
Dante’s car of choice is a 1966 Chevrolet Impala that Jason Momoa personally requested be painted lavender to mess with his mom because she hates the color. Diogo showed up in the newest car of the bunch, a 997 Porsche 911 GT3 RS, but it unfortunately doesn’t see the finish line. Isabel’s car of choice is a yellow Datsun 240Z featuring a turbocharger popping up on the wrong side of the hood. It luckily doesn’t suffer the same fate as Diogo, but it is damaged by Dom.
The Super Spy Cars
Cipher shows up in a DeLorean Alpha 5, another concept EV that these people shouldn’t be able to simply drive around. It’s a pairing that’s definitely fitting considering how technological and futuristic her character is, especially if you consider that she may have just stolen it straight from DeLorean.
Shaw pops back up in Fast X, finally connecting the post credit scene from F9. His garage features new Ramp Car similar to the one seen in Fast & Furious 6, but this one features six wheels. There’s not only that vehicle seen in his safehouse, Shaw also drives away in a beautiful McLaren Senna presumably to find his mom.
Jakob’s Cars in Fast X
Jakob’s character sees a full 180, and I’m here for it. His new fun uncle persona throughout the film was probably one of my favorite additions. Jakob’s old 5.0 Fox Body Mustang from the flashback in F9 makes an appearance in present day, to Little Brian’s dismay. It’s still a cool car, but I guess the kid is a Chevy guy.
The two also take a ride in a 1967 Chevrolet El Camino that’s been outfitted with missile launchers that are fed from the bed. Probably not the best idea to drive headfirst at a bunch of bad guys while letting the little kid operate military grade launchers, but it heavily plays into the uncle and nephew chemistry.
Dante’s 1966 Ford Fairlane
Dante clearly has a similar taste in cars as Dom, but his are designed to be a little more expressive. His other car of choice seen later in the film is a black and red 1966 Ford Fairlane that’s either got some extensive work under the hood to hit the speeds it was going or might just be a representation of the fabled R Code. If this and the Impala are the kind of cars we can expect in later films from this character, then I can’t wait to see what else is in his garage.
