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
09/11/2025
Dalet today announced a transformative leap forward for media operations: Agentic Artificial Intelligence (AI) that unifies the Dalet ecosystem under one natura...
16/10/2025
SVG Sit-Down: FUJIFILM Execs on GFX ETERNA 55 Camera, Importance of Shallow-Dept...
16/10/2025
Squash's Most Ambitious Broadcast Production To Be Deployed at Comcast Busin...
16/10/2025
Main Street Sports Group Inks Deal With Omaha Productions, Launches Original-Con...
16/10/2025
A Historic Precursor? FIFA, HBS, DAZN Offer an Inside Look at Production of FIFA...
16/10/2025
Prime Video Offers Sneak Peak at New NBA on Prime StudioThe massive 13,000-sq-ft, two-story studio features a LED regulation half court and hoopBy Jason Dachman...
16/10/2025
SVG Remote Production Forum Draws Record Crowd for Visit to PGA TOUR Studios, De...
16/10/2025
BitFire's Ben Grafchik on How Growing Cloud Workflows Are Impacting the Live...
16/10/2025
AI technology is advancing quickly, bringing both new creative possibilities and...
16/10/2025
In 2017, Imani Ellis launched CultureCon, a conference that's become a must-attend event for more than 10,000 diverse creatives and Black professionals to c...
16/10/2025
It might still be a little early to break out the tinsel and mistletoe, but Spotify's already queuing up some holiday magic. This year's Spotify Singles...
16/10/2025
Earlier this year, our in-house publishing imprint, Spotify Audiobooks, put out ...
16/10/2025
VAMPIRE has been integrated onto GM Defenses Infantry Squad Vehicle (ISV), providing a mobile solution to effectively and affordably counter small drone threat...
16/10/2025
The AgilePod mounted on the host aircraft....
16/10/2025
60% say infotainment systems are a critical purchasing or leasing consideration,...
16/10/2025
NEW YORK The Broadcasters Foundation of America has launched its 2025 Year-End Giving Campaign, which seeks to raise donations from tax-deductible personal and ...
16/10/2025
Roku has added several new features to its user interface and operating system meant to make it easier to discover and personalize content, the company said....
16/10/2025
NEW YORK CNN has announced that its All Access subscription tier will launch in the U.S. on Oct. 28, providing audiences with a centralized destination for CNN&...
16/10/2025
Student Spotlight: Alan Villanueva The graduate student and saxophonist, who performed on Natalia Lafourcades Latin Grammy-nominated Live at Carnegie Hall alb...
16/10/2025
The XR Sports Alliance (XRSA) has announced the third cohort of members. The new members include Maple Leafs Sports & Entertainment (MLSE), the Vegas Golden Kni...
16/10/2025
NEW YORK The Broadcasters Foundation of America has launched its 2025 Year-End Giving Campaign which seeks to raise donations from tax-deductible personal and c...
16/10/2025
NEW YORK Australia's Nine Network and the NHL today announced a media partnership that will bring the world's premier professional ice hockey league to ...
16/10/2025
Parks Associates has released new data showing that nearly half (45%) of U.S. internet homes watch free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) services and 89% of U.S...
16/10/2025
TROY, Mich. -New data from J.D. Power's 2025 U.S. Residential Internet Service Provider Study shows that residential wireless internet providers are growing...
16/10/2025
Back to All News
Thailand's Legendary Outlaw Returns: Tee Yai: Born to be ...
16/10/2025
Back to All News
Christmas Is Just Around The Corner: Home For Christmas Season...
16/10/2025
Back to All News
Trist n Ulloa Stars in El crimen de Pazos, the New Netflix Ser...
16/10/2025
ABS Completes Redomiciliation to Dubai Development Authority as Part of Strategi...
16/10/2025
This Saturday October 18 Katja Mia will burst onto the radio airwaves for the first time as she joins 2FM. Katja will be standing in for Bl thnaid Treacy on Sat...
16/10/2025
This October, RT is delighted to support Wexford Festival Opera, Babor International Arts Festival for Children, Open House Dublin and 36 other arts and cultu...
16/10/2025
GeForce NOW is more than just a platform to stream fresh games every week - it offers celebrations for the gamers who make it epic, with member rewards to sweet...
15/10/2025
Across the world, early-career reporters are interrogating systems that shape daily life, from mortuaries and classrooms to the corridors of legal education and...
15/10/2025
St. Louis Blues Pay Tribute to Ozzy Osbourne in New Pregame Open VideoThe NHL franchise worked with production firms 2WEI and 4th Floor CreativeBy Mark J Burns,...
15/10/2025
Cobalt Digital, G3DVu, Proxima Vision, and Telos Alliance Renew Premier Sponsors...
15/10/2025
By Paige Bethmann
Before my grandmother passed away in 2019, I went to visit her in the hospital where she'd been for a few weeks. When I arrived, the nurs...
15/10/2025
Two years ago, Spotify set out to grow the entire publishing industry by making ...
15/10/2025
People turn to DJ for a listening experience that feels personal, dynamic, and j...
15/10/2025
Las personas recurren a DJ para vivir una experiencia de escucha personal, din m...
15/10/2025
Rock legend Bruce Springsteen and luminary actor Jeremy Allen White came togethe...
15/10/2025
At Spotify, we're all about supporting rising talent and helping them connec...
15/10/2025
New SBS Documentary Series THE CANCER KILLERS Premieres 4 November on SBS & SBS ...
15/10/2025
SBS celebrates the Festivals of Lights with bold, illuminating stories across th...
15/10/2025
One of humanity's most profound questions continues: Is there any place in our galaxy suitable for life beyond Earth? NASA intends to find out, with the hel...
15/10/2025
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({ content_source:......
15/10/2025
Scality, a global leader in cyber-resilient storage software for the AI era, today announced the advancement of its comprehensive AI ecosystem certification pro...
15/10/2025
The Hollywood Professional Association (HPA) today unveiled key highlights of the 2026 HPA Tech Retreat, scheduled for Feb. 15 19 at the Westin Rancho Mirage Go...
15/10/2025
At NAB Show New York 2025 (Stand 244), Interra Systems will showcase the future of media QC, monitoring, and captioning, highlighting its award-winning, AI- and...
15/10/2025
Grass Valley today announced that RMC BFM, part of the CMA-CGM Group and France's third-largest private media group, has chosen Grass Valley's productio...
15/10/2025
Appear, the global leader in live production technology, will demonstrate how its powerful hardware and software innovations are shaping the future of hybrid, s...
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.
