Fast X does a lot of things right, but can’t escape the energy black hole of its main character

Normally the lead carries the movie but when it comes to Fast X, it’s the one character you never want to spend time with.

There’s dark magic to the art of the movie poster.

And by dark magic, we mean fierce negotiations by stars’ agents to ensure their clients nab decent real estate and size among a large ensemble cast. When you’re one of 14 people on the sheet, you want to be the most prominent.

So, yes, Vin Diesel looms large and centre over all his compatriots, including those more famous than him. As the star and producer of the Fast movies, Diesel has considerable control over the lucrative franchise and that includes not just his position on the posters but also how he’s framed on screen.

There’s the infamous shot in Fast Five where Diesel, in a confrontation with Dwayne Johnson, is eye-to-eye with the former wrestler, who is at least six inches taller than him. Diesel, and his onscreen alter ego Dom Toretto, has to be the premier hero of the story.

And yet, Dom is always the least interesting character in any given Fast movie. He has two facial expressions – glowering and slightly less glowering – and monosyllabic dialogue so generic it’s as if it was written by AI during a writers’ strike.

Dom Toretto, the energy vampire. Picture: Universal

For the record, there was no writers’ strike during the production of Fast X, the level of cheesy mediocrity in Diesel’s lines must be intentional. There is no other explanation for why it would be so awful.

When Dom intones, “How does someone born so rich choose the poorest path in life,” the only reaction is mocking snorts. And surely that wasn’t the goal?

Diesel may be the off-screen driving force behind the Fast movies, but onscreen, anytime Dom attempts to emote, the momentum stops dead in its tracks. After 22 years and 10 movies, it’s expected.

It’s just as well the franchise has so much else going for it that diehard fans have been willing to forgive all the endless expounding about family and family and family. And Dom’s exhausting hero complex – all in the name of family, of course.

Because at least the cars go vroom and boom. Cities blow up, things that shouldn’t fly do, and all the genuinely thrilling, eye-popping stunts have told gravity to rack off. Plus, everyone besides Dom is very watchable, even if there are more nepo baby characters here than you can count at a Kennedy reunion. Because, family.

Jason Momoa was a masterstroke in casting. Picture: Universal

When a movie is as overstuffed as Fast X, there are bound to be elements that work. So here’s what does: Jason Momoa is a masterstroke in casting as the villain of the piece, as the deranged Dante, the heretofore unseen son of the Fast Five antagonist Hernan Reyes.

Dante is out for revenge for his dad’s death at the hands of Dom and his crew, and he’s vowed to make him suffer. Momoa is deliciously fun, a ball of psychotic energy that is part Jack Nicholson’s Joker, part hulking Bond baddie and part Eurotrash tragic.

The return of Charlize Theron as Cipher, John Cena as Jakob and Jason Statham as Shaw are excellent, as are the cast of supporting characters played by Michelle Rodriguez, Ludacris, Sung Kang, Nathalie Emmanuel and Tyrese Gibson.

It seems like everyone is in this movie. Brie Larson, Daniela Melchior, Rita Moreno, Pete Davidson and Alan Ritchson have joined the franchise – the latter, unfortunately, is saddled with dialogue even worse than Diesel’s – while Helen Mirren, Scott Eastwood and Jordana Brewster have pop-ins.

And there are a couple of cameos you’ll want to stick through to the end for. It’ll make for the fact that Fast X doesn’t have an ending – it’s part one of what was to be a double act and is now apparently a trilogy.

Cars still go boom, and that’s the minimum. Picture: Universal

Considering the multitude of characters, director Louis Leterrier has deftly balanced all the competing subplots. The pace at which it jumps from one aspect of the story to another is well calibrated.

None feels underserved or overstayed – except, of course, for Dom’s slice of the narrative because it’s never not boring, unless Dante is there to bring some much needed pizzazz. Stay on Dom too long, and you’re begging them to switch back to Theron or Cena. That character is done, he has no more arc to play – he loves his family and has a martyr complex, that’s Dom’s limit.

The Fast movies are always going to be burdened with that sentimental earnestness, and maybe it wouldn’t be a Fast film without Dom the energy vacuum. Some fans even like it, although this is baffling to the rest of us.

While Fast X still delivers on propulsive stunts and fan service, and is actually pretty fun, as the 10th instalment and with the promise (or is that a threat?) of at least two more, it’s starting to run out of road.

Rating: 3/5

Fast X is in cinemas now