“Fast X” just came out on May 19, and oh boy, did it blow “Fast and Furious 9” out of the water. “Fast X” was adjacent in intensity to “Avengers: Infinity War.” This movie is the franchises goldmine. Everything about the movie was thrilling, exciting and crazy good. It gives you the whole package of a Fast and Furious movie and leaves you begging for more. But what makes “Fast X” so good?

For those who aren’t familiar with the Fast and Furious franchise, it is a long running movie series dating back to 2001. The movies have to do with the main character Dominique Terreto (Vin Diesel) who is a street racer. He cares about street racing and family. He’ll go on missions and do stuff for the characters depending on the movie. In this movie, he tries to protect his family from the villain Dante Reyes (Jason Momoa) who is the son of a mob boss. Reyes has one goal: to kill Dom and everyone he loves. The idea of a rich-boy psychopath seemed a little weird, but then you see Momoa play the character and his performance just makes you hooked to the character. They go on a ride of dodging Reyes and trying to keep his family alive.

This movie is similar to “Avengers: Infinity War” because it features a big cast of characters as well and brings some from older movies. The main characters include Dom, Letty (Michele Rodriguez), Han (Sung Kang), Roman (Tyrese Gibson), Tej (Ludacris), Mia (Jordana Brewster), Jakob (John Cena) and many more. It brings the idea of family to a whole new level. This is inherently a double-edged sword because for fans this is something they eat up, but for someone watching it for the first time, they just see all these characters trying to fit into one movie and it can be hard to keep track of them. But I thought they actually did pretty well juggling the characters and fitting it all in.

Truthfully, I was scared that this movie was going to get out of hand. Last time they shot a car into space. You know the rule with a sequel: you always have to top the last movie. But in this movie, they brought “Fast X” way more down to earth, pun intended. They had action sequences that left you on the edge of your seat. Now, granted, there are two or three scenes where you question the realism of it, but the scenes are still fun to watch. They definitely play with explosions a lot and they always find a creative way to bring cars into the mix. Overall, the action scenes are awesome and eye-opening. 

I loved “Fast X.” It was an entertaining movie all the way through. It is another classic movie from the saga. The action, characters and stakes made the movie really fun to watch. I think this is definitely worth a watch. Even if you aren’t a fan of the franchise, you should give this movie a shot because you might just like it. I have to take off two stars because, as a fan I love it, but I’m not sure how a person who hasn’t seen a “Fast and Furious” movie would react to this action-racing style of movie. 

Right now, “Fast X” is only available in theaters. In the meantime, I will be on my couch for the next year waiting for the installment.

“Fast X:” ★★★☆☆