Living in an area of Los Angeles that has had drivers doing donuts after midnight and had some dangerous street takeovers, I’m not a big fan of the “Fast & Furious” franchise. Only one film, a spin-off, has really made me smile, but I was delightfully surprised with “Fast X.” If you’re asking: Who is Dante? I’ll give you the answer. Jason Momoa’s Dante is the deliriously demented devil on the trail for revenge, but you won’t know that immediately.

 

For those who haven’t been following this Fast & Furious franchise, the original focus was on illegal street racing. That might have been cool once, but times change.

• Pedestrian killed in street-takeover crash in South LA on Christmas night

• LAPD Will Impound Not Only Participants’ Cars But Spectators’ At Street Takeovers

By 2011 the series transitioned to heists and espionage, beginning with “Fast Five.”

As the character Aimes, the new head of the secret federal organization called the Agency,  tells us in a voice-over:

Let’s start back at the beginning, shall we? Los Angeles, 2001. Humble roots, local kids. Street racers who became hijackers, graduated to high speed smuggling, mobile jailbreaks, train robberies. If it would be done in a car, they did it. If it violates the laws of God and gravity, they did it twice. But the days where one man behind the wheel of a car can make a difference are over.

When we first meet Dante (Jason Momoa), he is in a business suit with a questionable man-bun. He seems ready to burst out and be Superman or a Hulk-ish brute. His father, Brazilian crime lord Hernan Reyes (Joaquim de Almeida), is about to be the target of the central figure of the Fast & Furious universe: Dom(inic) Toretto (Vin Diesel). In 2011 (“Fast Five,” 2011), Dom and his crew were in Rio de Janeiro and they steal the vault filled with money from Hernan Reyes. Reyes’ son is Dante. If you don’t remember (or never saw) “Fast Five,” don’t worry. There will be a recap during which time, Dante will take the plunge into the water and, for a moment, I thought Momoa was going to transform into Aquaman. Thank goodness that doesn’t happen. Dante is dead for two minutes (according to the Universal Pictures production notes), and that probably didn’t help his mental stability.

Since 2011, Dante has been studying Dom and planning his revenge. He begins by staging a fake operation in Rome that makes lures the B-team led by Roman (Tyrese Gibson) with the doubtful Tej (Chris “Ludacris” Bridges), the seemingly immortal Han (Sung Kang) and the intense Ramsey (Nathalie Emmanuel) into a trap. They think they are working a job for the Agency. But the Agency things they’ve gone rogue and that makes the whole F&F fam outlaws, essentially breaking their ties with the Agency.

Dom and his wife, Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) attempt to warn the Rome crew, but only succeed in saving the Vatican.  This action sequence involves  a bomb that looks curiously like a Death Star on fire and you’ll see the writers (Justin Lin, Zach Dean and Dan Mazeau ) and director Louis Leterrier learned something from “Raiders of the Lost Ark” and that boulder run. Indeed, there’s a lot of potential for a Universal Studio ride in this film.

From Rome, we’ll jump to London, Brazil, Portugal and even take a trip to Antartica. Don’t expect this film to make sense of time, travel or gravity. A lot of people die, or, at least, seem to die. We don’t look back and check. And remember this: Han supposedly died three times (“Tokyo Drift” in 2006, “Fast 6″in 2013 and “Furious 7” in 2015).

Returning Fast alum include Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, Nathalie Emmanuel, Jordana Brewster (Mia, Dom’s sister), Sung Kang, Jason Statham (Shaw), John Cena (Jakob) and Scott Eastwood (Little Nobody) with appearances by Oscar-winners Helen Mirren (Queenie)  and Charlize Theron (Cipher). New cast members include Oscar-winner Brie Larson as a member of the Agency (Tess) and Alan Richtson as Aimes, the new head of the Agency as well as Daniela Melchior as a Brazilian street racer and Oscar winner Rita Moreno as Dom and Mia’s Abuelita Toretto.

Despite a cast with several Oscar-winning actors, besides Momoa, the actor who really shines is John Cena. While Dom and his crew are gone off and driving into crazy situations that defy gravity in a way that isn’t musical or uplifting, Cena’s character is on a roadtrip to a safe haven with Dom’s 8-year-old son, Little Brian(Leo Abelo Perry). That doesn’t mean Cena’s character drives a cool car…or does he?

Jakob is Dom’s younger brother and the sometime villain of the 2021 “Fast 9”  when he was an international terrorist who was estranged from his brother and once worked as an agent for Mr. Nobody (Kurt Russell who does not appear in “Fast X,” but was seen in the 2015 “Furious 7,” the 2017 “The Fate and the Furious” and the 2021 “F9”).

My husband said he liked Momoa in “Game of Thrones” because he played strong, silent type (Khal Drago in the first two seasons, 2011-2012) .  As Aquaman in the DC Extended Universe  films, Momoa was little more than a body, the embodiment of a superhero, posing heroically and letting special effects carry the film. Momoa’s Aquaman stint has seriously under utilized his potential, in a way similar to how Chris Hemsworth was underwhelming as Thor until someone realized Hemsworth was more than a handsome face and incredible physique. Hemsworth can be funny and so too can Momoa.  As the clearly mental Dante, Momoa is fabulously a bit fey, and deliriously drunk on power and the potential for chaos. He’s the internet troll from the dark web;  he’s the high tech villain of modern day nightmares who can ride a Harley and yet, he’s deliciously fun in a cartoonish way. That nail polish scene is diabolical and Momoa sells it like a con man on a manic high roll.

As Dante tells Dom, “Collateral damage, damage, chaos, death. I’m your legacy.”

Who is Dante? He’s a deliriously delicious demon, a hard-riding bête noire on Dom’s back. He brings a definite engine upgrade to the F&F franchise. See “Fast X” for Dante and be sure to stay for the mid-credit scene. “Fast X” premiered in Rome on 12 May 2023. It was released in the US by Universal Pictures on 19 May 2023. “Fast X” is the first of a two-part installment.

Info on the cars:

• Dom Toretto’s black Dodge Charger Daytona Banshee SRT, is a 100-percent electric concept car.
• Tess drives a 2023 Nissan Z.  
• Cipher car is a sleek prototype DeLorean with gull wings. 
• Dante rides Harley Davidson’s  2022 Pan America. Jason Momoa matched his nail color to the bike. (I do appreciate that detail). 
• Roman drives a $7 million 2022 Pagani. 
• Tej’s car of choice is an American-made hypercar, the 2023 Hennessy Venom F5 Coupe, valued $2.75 million.
• Han drives a black/maroon 1971 Datsun 240Z that syncs with Sung Kang’s love of vintage cars.