Fast X review: Unraveling the illogical journey of the Fast sagaFast and Furious 10 explores the convoluted timeline of the series, attempting to rationalize the unusual choices made in previous films.
by The Conversation
01-06-2023 15:22
in Entertainment
Vin Diesel and Daniela Melchior in Fast X. Image: The Conversation.
There's a scene in the latest Fast & Furious film, Fast X, where Aimes (Alan Ritchson) - the government agent tasked with apprehending Dom (Vin Diesel) and his crew - gives a rundown of the heroes' backstory:
--
Let's start back at the beginning Los Angeles, 2001 Humble roots, local kids Street racers who became hijackers Graduated to high-speed smuggling, mobile jailbreaks, train robberies If it could be done in a car, they did it If it violates the laws of God and gravity, they did it twice.
On one level, the scene is a recap reel. Monitors inside Aimes' hi-tech HQ play clips from the Fast family's biggest stunts. These clips are designed to initiate casual viewers into the Furious-verse, helping them to make sense of what's to come.
ALSO READ: Fast and furious: Man clocks 199km/h speeding on the N1
The trailer for Fast X. On another level, it's a knowing wink to ride or die fans. The scene addresses audiences who've followed the franchise throughout its 22-year history, a period in which Fast & Furious has undergone so many transformations that the latest entries can feel unrecognisable from the first film.
--
Fast X When Aimes talks about humble roots in Fast X, therefore, he's also referring to the franchise as a whole. It began with 2001's The Fast and the Furious, a mid-budget crime film about street racing which featured a cast of relative unknowns.
In the ten sequels that followed before this latest edition, the franchise grew exponentially, rebranding as the Fast Saga and evolving to become a series of star-studded global adventures in the Mission: Impossible mould.
This evolution brought greater commercial risks and rewards. The Fast Saga is one of the top-ten highest grossing film franchises of all time, and Fast X cost an estimated US$340 million (£275 million) to produce.
--
Han fights Shaw in a clip from Fast X. By now, the franchise's unlikely trajectory is so well known that recent films have incorporated meta commentary on their own ridiculousness. This is best illustrated in F9's (2021) running gag where Roman (Tyrese Gibson) wonders whether the heroes may be invincible.
ALSO READ: Fast and Furious 10': Vin Diesel welcomes Brie Larson to the crew
Fast X is the latest pitstop on this journey. It's a logical extension of the Fast Saga's illogical, gravity-defying melodrama, where every set-piece and plot twist furthers the extravagant myth of Dom and his family.
Retcons and resurrections The latest film (the first of two volumes that will draw the Fast Saga to a close) continues the tradition of bringing back fan favourites. This is something the Fast films do with an alarming disregard for narrative coherence. In this sense, Fast X feels like an attempt to rationalise the messy timeline that emerged out of the unusual choices of earlier films.
That timeline began in Fast & Furious (2009) - the confusingly titled fourth film - where the opening sequence revealed the surprise return of Han (Sung Kang), a character who died in the previous instalment, Tokyo Drift (2006).
Han returns in F9. Han appeared again in Fast Five (2011) and Fast & Furious 6 (2013). A mid-credits scene in the sixth film seemed to confirm Han's exit by replaying his death and revealing that it was at the hands of new villain, Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham).
The decision to retcon Han's demise and then fold it into the events of Furious 7 (2015) established a strange chronology where the fourth, fifth and sixth films take place (in story terms) before Tokyo Drift.
ALSO READ: Will Smith put on hold: Bad Boys 4', Fast and Loose' and biopic
The screenwriters have acknowledged this disregard for linear time, joking: Look, the timeline is you know it's one-two-four-five-six-three-seven, right?
Since then, Han has been resurrected once more in F9, where it's revealed that his death in Tokyo was an elaborate hoax. In Fast X, he finally reunites with Shaw, giving Han a chance to get revenge against the man who appeared to kill him four films ago.
An outlaw franchise Fast and Furious With the number of once-dead characters that populate the Fast Saga, viewers could be forgiven for thinking that many of its major plot points are introduced on a whim, dreamed up by co-producer Vin Diesel during interviews. But there's method in the madness, a consistent inconsistency which has allowed the saga to carve out its own niche.
The seemingly chaotic nature of the Fast Saga's development is central to its appeal. Reflecting on its unlikely trajectory, critics often observe that the franchise has an off-the-cuff feel. This distinguishes it from more meticulously planned franchises, such as the Marvel Cinematic Universe, where every sequel and spin-off is mapped out years in advance to try to maximise the brand.
Star and co-producer Vin Diesel and director Louis Leterrier. Courtesy of Universal Pictures This long-term planning can sometimes be a weakness, leaving such franchises less able to adapt to fan responses. In contrast, the Fast Saga has often shown a fleet-footedness in its engagement with audience demands.
Previous Fast and Furious film After all, Han was only included in the fourth film after test screenings for Tokyo Drift showed he was a hit with fans, while his resurrection in F9 was a direct response to the #Justice4Han campaign that emerged on social media.
ALSO READ: Jason Momoa has been cast in Fast and Furious 10'
With its elabo
Most recent headlines
06/10/2025
France T l visions, France's leading broadcaster, has received the 2025 EBU ...
04/09/2025
Monumental Sports & Entertainment (MSE), in collaboration with Dalet, has been a...
07/08/2025
July 8 2025, 22:30 (PDT) Tata Motors & Dolby Bring Dolby Atmos to Harrier.ev, R...
12/07/2025
As the death toll continues to mount, with at least 120 killed and more than 170 people still missing on July 10 from devastating Texas floods, a number of broa...
12/07/2025
EL SEGUNDO, Calif., and MIAMI -DirecTV and TelevisaUnivision have signed a deal that will make the ad-supported premium subscription tier of ViX, ViX Premium wi...
11/07/2025
PARK CITY, UTAH, July 11, 2025 - The nonprofit Sundance Institute announced today the 11 producers chosen for its annual Producers Labs, returning to Ucross Fou...
11/07/2025
If you've ever wondered what might be playing in Clark Kent's headphones...
11/07/2025
L3Harris Technologies President of Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Jason Lambert and General Manager of L3Harris Waco facility Sean Ling held a ce...
11/07/2025
ARLINGTON, Va. WETA, the flagship public media station in the national capital area, has launched WETA+, a new streaming service tailored for the local Washingt...
11/07/2025
The Federal Communications Commission has emerged as one of the central players in the broadcast TV landscape in 2025, with its deregulatory policies sparking h...
11/07/2025
Calrec will introduce usability, customization and system enhancements across its entire range of Argo consoles during IBC2025, Sept. 12-15, at the RAI Amsterda...
11/07/2025
LONDON Encompass Digital Media said it will support live and on-demand viewing of the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup across multiple global regions for sports enterta...
11/07/2025
Two-thirds of broadcast engineers reaped the benefits of a pay raise within the last year....
11/07/2025
CARY, N.C. SmallHD has launched the Quantum 27, a new 26.5-inch Quantum-Dot OLED monitor designed to deliver postproduction image quality in a compact, set-frie...
11/07/2025
The Federal Communications Commission's Enforcement Bureau and Tegna have entered into a consent decree that will settle an investigation into the accidenta...
11/07/2025
WASHINGTON Following news in early July that Paramount had settled President Donald Trump's lawsuit, Sens. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and Ben Ray Luj n (D-N...
11/07/2025
Model/Actriz Performs Lead Single Cinderella on The Late Show with Stephen Colbe...
11/07/2025
Behind the Mic: Amazon Prime Preps for First Season of NBA Action; MSG Networks ...
11/07/2025
SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: Suite Studios' Craig Hering on Adapting to Client...
11/07/2025
2025 SVG Content Management Forum Breaks Down AI's Impact, Continued Transit...
11/07/2025
A Journey HOME: University of Nebraska's HuskerVision Goes IP Leaders from the HuskerVision and Lawo share their IP learnings By SVG Staff
Friday, July 1...
11/07/2025
CMSI, Remote Picture Labs, Ace ESPN's Cloud-Based Editing Efforts for Wimble...
11/07/2025
Netflix Enters the Live-Boxing-Production Ring for Round 2 With Historic Taylor-...
11/07/2025
Back to All News
Too Hot to Handle: Italy Is Coming on July 18 Only on Netflix
Entertainment
11 July 2025
GlobalItaly
Link copied to clipboard
July 11, 20...
11/07/2025
Back to All News
Netflix Will Release Death Inc. Seasons 1, 2 and 3
Entertainment
11 July 2025
GlobalSpain
Link copied to clipboard
Season 1
Season 2
Se...
11/07/2025
AI and Multimedia Authenticity Standards Collaboration launches two papers to guide the future of AI integration, today at the AI for Good Global Summit
The...
11/07/2025
Ceramics - the humble mix of earth, fire and artistry - have been part of a global conversation for millennia.
From Tang Dynasty trade routes to Renaissance pa...
10/07/2025
The current holder of the prestigious Thomson Foundation Young Journalist of the Year Award has been forced to stop reporting over fears for her safety in Afgha...
10/07/2025
Spotify is turning up the volume on Australian music with a multipronged initiative designed to highlight the dominance of Australian artists on the global stag...
10/07/2025
This is not a drill: Oasis is back on the road-marking its first live performanc...
10/07/2025
The music industry depends on fresh ideas, bold voices, and emerging talent. Yet across the U.K., too many young musicians lack the space to develop their craft...
10/07/2025
NEW YORK - July 10, 2025 - Nielsen, the global leader in audience measurement, data and analytics, today announced that it appointed Richard Pacheco as head of ...
10/07/2025
Local newscasts don't exist in a vacuum. News directors and station management constantly evaluate what's working, what isn't and perhaps most impor...
10/07/2025
Lawo has announced that Stuttgart Media University (Hochschule der Medien, HdM) has comprehensively modernized its central recording studio after selecting an I...
10/07/2025
The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) has opened early-bird registration for the Media Technology Summit, which will take place in a ne...
10/07/2025
NASHVILLE, Tenn. TNDV Television has launched Aspiration 35, a new version of its 40-foot Aspiration truck reimagined for cinematic multicamera productions....
10/07/2025
BURBANK, Calif. Key Code Education, a provider of instructor-led postproduction training, is growing its curriculum with new programs for beginner and intermedi...
10/07/2025
HACKENSACK, N.J. Actus Digital will demonstrate how broadcasters can transform compliance monitoring from a necessary expense into a strategic revenue driver at...
10/07/2025
The Federal Register has published a summary of the Federal Communications Commission's Public Notice seeking comments on its ownership rules that lists a d...
10/07/2025
Back to All News
Netflix Presents the Official Trailer for SuperestarPlay Video
Play Video
Entertainment
10 July 2025
GlobalSpain
Link copied to clipboard...
10/07/2025
In the race to understand our planet's changing climate, speed and accuracy are everything. But today's most widely used climate simulators often strugg...
10/07/2025
As one of the world's largest emerging markets, Indonesia is making strides toward its Golden 2045 Vision - an initiative tapping digital technologies and...
10/07/2025
10 Jul 2025
VEON and Cohen Circle Secure Investor Commitments for Kyivstar Listing Kyiv, New York, Dubai, and Philadelphia - July 10, 2025 - VEON Ltd. (Nasdaq:...
10/07/2025
5G for all? What the DFL's use of Easy5G and RefCam could mean for events in...
10/07/2025
Save the Date: PGA TOUR Studios Welcomes SVG Remote Production Summit on Oct 14-...
10/07/2025
Cloud on the Road: How Remote-Production-Service Providers Are Adapting to a New...
10/07/2025
Seattle Kraken's Ryan Schaber on the NHL Team Taking Live Game Productions I...
10/07/2025
FOX Sports Reboots Small Control Room in Los Angeles as Hub for Vertical-First P...
10/07/2025
SVG Sit-Down: MSE's Zach Leonsis, ViewLift's Rick Allen Go Deep on Joint...
Fast X review: Unraveling the illogical journey of the Fast sagaFast and Furious 10 explores the convoluted timeline of the series, attempting to rationalize the unusual choices made in previous films.
