The Most Over-The-Top Moments In Fast X, Ranked
Contains spoilers for "Fast X"
It's clear with each new addition in the "Fast and Furious" franchise that these movies are about family, not physics. What began as "Point Break" with cars has evolved into the ever-more-ridiculous exploits of a super spy team stacked with heroes — and villains and villains turned heroes. From racing the streets with the all-powerful NOS to racing into space, this saga left plausibility in their rearview many moons ago. Luckily, for the most part, the movies are held together thanks to the chemistry of the "Fast Family" and action sequences so knowingly bonkers the audience feels in on the joke. As Mark Kennedy summed up in his review for The Associated Press, "Fast X" is pure popcorn lunacy."
After "F9: The Fast Saga" showcased the possibly too-silly adventures of Tej (Ludacris) and Roman (Tyrese Gibson) in space and a climax with a super magnet that broke all laws of how magnets work, where could "Fast X" go that Dom (Vin Diesel) and his crew hadn't gone before? Never fear. There are still many gravity-defying stunts this crew has hiding in their glovebox. Each sequence revs off the screen as if telling the last set piece to "hold its beer," becoming more Chris Bridges as the runtime speeds along (get it? Ludacris? Sigh...). So let's hop in the driver's seat and race through the most over-the-top moments of "Fast X."
10. Dante's retconned backstory
Retconning their cinematic universe is par for the course with the "Fast Saga." So it's no surprise that Hernan Reyes (Joaquim de Almeida), the baddie from "Fast Five," has a previously unmentioned son. Dante isn't the first "Whoops! We forgot" character. Dom, the ultimate family man, neglected to mention his long-lost brother, Jakob, until the ninth movie (10th if you count the "Hobbs and Shaw" spin-off). And Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham) debuted in the post-credits of "Fast and Furious 6" as Owen Shaw's (Luke Evans) vengeful brother. These constant surprise family members crawling out of the woodwork are silly and melodramatic. But that's basically what these movies have become — soap operas with guns, cars, and now Jason Momoa's epic man bun.
Louis Leterrier and DP Stephen Windon added Momoa into flashbacks of "Fast Five's" vault heist finale. "We put our characters into pre-existing footage through motion control and CG, and then we also shot new bits with the same film stock and cameras as 'Fast Five,'" Leterrier tells The Hollywood Reporter. The results are so seamless that you'd be forgiven if you thought it was just the Mandela Effect and Dante was there all along. Momoa turns in an unapologetically fun and absurdly self-aware performance, making him one of the franchise's best villains.
9. Uncle Jakob returns
With Mr. Nobody (Kurt Russell) in the wind, Aimes (Alan Ritchson) runs the show at the Agency, and the Toretto crew is labeled terrorists after a mission goes kaboom in Rome. Armed-to-the-teeth agents show up to kidnap Mia and Little Brian, not expecting Uncle Jakob (John Cena) to show up. Sure, in "F9," Jakob was involved in cyberterrorism and responsible for a hefty death toll, but he's back and somehow a completely redeemed good guy now because... family? Jakob delivers some WWE-style smackdowns to the Agency goons. They tear through the Toretto house, which has seen its fair share of forced remodeling. The crowning absurd moment is when Jakob body-slams an agent through the upstairs floor, and they land in the living room below.
"F9" was bogged down with too many exposition-filled flashbacks to explain why Dom (who says the word "family" more times than Diesel has said, "I am Groot") would neglect to mention he had a baby brother. This new revelation seems silly, even by "Fast" standards, and Jakob remains a contentious addition. In "Fast X," John Cena has way more fun high-fiving Little Brian over his "Cannon Car" than his previous overly serious bad guy scowl. "Fast X" seems to have learned to let Cena do what he does best, play a goofy manchild. Sadly, we don't think Uncle Jakob will be appearing in the next two installments, but it wouldn't be the first time a character returned from the "dead."
8. Letty vs. Cipher
It's a "Fast" tradition that almost no one stays dead, and villains either turn good or reluctantly join forces with the heroes. Cipher coming to Dom for help is a bold move, considering she had his baby mama murdered in front of him. Then, when Letty wakes up in a maximum security prison, strapped to a table next to Cipher, we eagerly await their inevitable throwdown. Cipher (being a master hacker) pulls off an illogical escape from her restraints, and they quickly dispatch the guards. When Cipher tells Letty they have four minutes until more guards show up, Letty responds, "It'll have to do," followed by a mean right hook. Their fight continues with countless punches, body slams, and more shattered glass than in "Die Hard."
It wouldn't be a "Fast" movie without an added sprinkle of the ridiculous. Here, it comes via a laser, triggered by Cipher, that nearly cuts Letty to bits. Letty responds in kind by tossing a handful of glass in Cipher's face, which she shakes off better than most people after one grain of sand gets in their eye at the beach. A fun behind-the-scenes tidbit: there was no director on set for this scene due to the sudden departure of director Justin Lin. Michelle Rodriguez tells Vanity Fair, "We shot our ['Fast X'] fight sequence with no director. Bro, like, hands down, drop mic, we nailed it. We were there. We don't need [a director]. Let's do this." It's fisticuffs for the ages, so bravo.
7. Let's race... again
Dante's vengeance-fueled plot lures Dom to Brazil (where he lost everything thanks to the vault hijinks of "Fast Five"). Dom shows up at his usual street-racing spot, reunites with his buddy Diogo (Luis Da Silva), and meets newcomer Isabel (Daniela Melchior), with whom Dom feels an immediate connection. Dante shows up and challenges the trio to a race, delivering the deliciously villainous line, "That's the problem with having such a big family. How do you choose the ones you save?" The race starts, and Dom instinctively knows there are bombs under his friends' cars. Sadly, Diogo meets a fiery demise, but Dom manages to save Isabel at the last possible second.
We find out later that Isabel is the younger sister of Elena (Elsa Pataky), which Dom sensed the second he met her because if there's one thing Dom can sniff out, it's actual family members of his family — and apparently bombs. How did he know Dante strapped bombs to their cars and not his? Maybe since Dom witnessed Dante's magic-magnetic bombs in Rome, he assumes his fellow racers are about to go boom. Whatever his sixth sense may be, it's also gloriously silly that, just before Dante flips the killswitch on Isabel, Dom slams her car perfectly to knock the bomb off. Lucky for Dom, these bombs' magnetic abilities are only as powerful as the characters' plot armor.
6. Dante's pedicure buddies
Dante takes a breather from tormenting Toretto to give a pastel pedicure to one of his hired goons. It's a funny opening until we realize that said goon and another poor sap are both deceased, and their eyelids and mouths have been scotch-taped open, their bodies posed in folding chairs like a nightmarish "Weekend at Bernie's" deleted scene. At this moment, we realize how genuinely psychotic Dante is. He has gone mad and has no regard for human life. This sneak peek into his private life is unnerving and darkly hilarious.
This grotesque sequence very nearly didn't make the final cut. "Fast X" director Louis Leterrier tells The Hollywood Reporter, "We wanted to see Dante behind closed doors and realize that he is really twisted. It's not just an act. So we shot that scene, but we thought it would be a DVD extra at best or in the director's cut— and then we started testing the movie with that scene. And the audience went crazy for it. It was the studio's Donna Langley who watched the scene and said, 'I love it. I love the insanity of that scene.' And so she gave us the okay." Thank you, Donna, for greenlighting a masterfully macabre scene.
5. The bridge standoff
While in Agency custody, Dom's sneaky sixth sense goes off again. He buckles in and braces for impact when the van gets blasted by a missile launched by Dante. There's a wild shootout on the bridge, Tess (Brie Larson) shows up, and they have a standoff. When it looks like Dante may have overplayed his hand, there's a twist! Aimes has been working for Dante the whole time. He shoots and wounds Tess, allowing Dante to make his escape.
How did Dom know that something was about to happen while he was in a windowless van? He buckles up with such immediacy as if he received a signal only he can hear. At this point, the series could be not-so-subtly hinting Dom has telepathic abilities for all we know. Most audience members will spot Aimes' bad guy reveal several miles away. Even so, it opens up many plot holes. Why wouldn't Aimes buckle up if he's working with Dante and knows the plan? Why isn't he mad about the missile attack? Dante could've easily killed everyone in that van. Why is Aimes still playing up the good guy act and shooting Dante's men until he finally turns heel and shoots Tess? Because... uh... family? We honestly don't have an answer.
4. Cipher takes the express elevator
After a bloodied and beaten Cipher shows up on Toretto's doorstep, she reveals that Dante turned her crew against her by kidnapping their kids (not cool, bro), and she had to fight her way out. Cipher's own men turn their guns on her, but good thing the hacker supreme can shut them all down with the flip of a switch. What follows is a room full of goons vs. Charlize Theron, and it plays out like a cousin sequel to "Atomic Blonde" as she beats the hell out of every last one of them. The fight goes to the elevator, where the wires are shot, and it plummets while the brakes spark and give out. At the last possible second, Cipher cushions her fall with a baddie's body as a piece of metal penetrates his skull.
This action sequence is exactly what fans have been clamoring for since Charlize Theron became the villain of "The Fate of the Furious." In the last two movies, she's been either in a plane or locked in a cell, delivering evil monologues, but now, she gets double duty, dishing out fun villain lines and opening up a significant can of whoop ass. It's no secret Charlize Theron can fight, so it's nice to see the action-heavy franchise finally utilize her full potential.
3. Jakob's cannon car
Jakob and Little Brian arrive at their secret rendezvous point. Jakob reveals his side project, a "Mad Max"-style assault vehicle with front and rear-facing cannons. When this unlikely duo goes up against endless unmarked vehicles, it plays like the most violent "Mario Kart" race ever. Jakob and Little B have a blast blowing up nameless mercenaries until the cannons jam. Little B climbs out at top speed to fix it. While this daredevil decision helps Jakob reload, it also allows Dante the opportunity to snatch Little B. Jakob's arc ends when he heroically sacrifices himself by launching his cannon car into a row of enemy SUVs to clear a path for Dom to save his son.
The cannon car is objectively awesome, and we have no notes. However, killing Jakob just one movie after his introduction seems rushed and unearned. The intentions behind this choice were commendable. Louis Letterrier tells EW, "I pitched (John Cena) this thing. And that literally changed his performance because he understood where he was going. 'I'm going to give so much love, so then the sacrifice really hurts.' And it really does hurt." Does it, though? It's hard to muster an emotional reaction for a character we barely know in a franchise where almost no one stays dead. Besides, maybe Jakob jumped out of the cannon car at the last minute instead of dying in a fiery blaze of glory. We'll have to wait until "Fast X: Part 2" to find out.
2. A bomb-astic race through Rome
"Fast X" has a marquee-worthy chase sequence through the streets of Rome that plays like a callback to and a one-up of the vault heist in "Fast Five." Roman takes point on this mission, and they drive right into a trap as part of Dante's plot to frame them as terrorists. The semitruck they thought was part of a simple cyber-heist is actually carrying a giant bomb. Ramsey (Nathalie Emmanuel) and Tej get locked inside while Dante remote controls them into several hopefully-insured bystanders' cars. He then unleashes the rolling bomb onto the streets of Rome in a real-life game of pinball as the "Fast Family" knocks the bomb back and forth, hoping to thwart Dante from blowing up the Vatican.
There are so many over-the-top moments in this sequence, but we'll list our favorite bonkers bits. Roman and Han try to stop the out-of-control semi by slamming their cars into either side and burning out their brakes. Dom bumps the bomb off course with his signature Dodge Charger more than once and shields cafe-goers from an explosion by knocking a canopy down on them. The bomb splits a bus in half. However, the ultimate moment of absurdity happens when this ball of death rolls closer to the Vatican. Dom launches off the bridge, hitting a crane that miraculously swings around and hits the bomb into the river. The force of the explosion looks nearly nuclear, and Dom and his pursuers whip around like they're in the finale of "Twister." Supposedly, casualties were "kept to a minimum."
1. Dom vs. two helicopters and the Hoover Dam
In an avalanche of absurdity, they saved the most over-the-top moment in "Fast X" for last. Dom enters the final battle the only way he knows how in an impossibly dangerous and physics-defying manner. He punches his Dodge Charger in reverse out of a plane, landing on top of two SUVs traveling at top speed. Dante summons two helicopters to harpoon Dom's car and yanks him off the road. Silly bad guys! Don't you know Dom has that magic NOS? He fires it up, and the force of limitless horsepower launches him over the bridge to the road below, where he crashes the two helicopters together. Dom then slingshots them into the remaining villains' vehicles. He tells Little B to jump right as he hits Dante's car, and they both donut out of control, close enough for Little B to jump into Dom's passenger seat.
If that wasn't silly enough, just when we think the credits are about to roll, Dom's getaway is abruptly stopped on the Hoover Dam when Dante sends two remote-controlled gas trucks in to make a Toretto sandwich. He's trapped, but Dante forgets to take one thing away from Dom — his car. Dom launches down the side of the dam as the trucks explode, unleashing a volcanic torrent of fire and debris. The car crashes into the water below, and they swim to safety, only to find Dante has rigged the dam to blow. How are they going to get out of this? We'll have to wait until "Fast X: Part 2" to find out!