In partnership with Universal Pictures UK
1. This summer blockbuster season starts here
Start your engines: the 2023 blockbuster season gets underway right here, with the biggest action movie of the summer – Fast X. The perfect movie to see at the cinema with family and friends, it’s a Hollywood spectacle like you’ve never seen: Vin Diesel’s Dom Toretto must fight to keep everyone together, as a vengeful villain threatens to tear everything he has apart. Just make sure you find the biggest screen possible to watch it on.
2. The action is off-the-chain
Fast X set out to create some incredible practical stunts, grounding the franchise in dirt-on-the-wheels realism. Among the insane set-pieces in Fast X, Dom drops his car out of a plane – this time without a parachute. And, in what feels like a tribute to the opening of Raiders Of The Lost Ark, an enormous metal boulder pounds through the streets destroying literally everything in its path, even smashing a single-decker bus in two!
3. Jason Momoa is the main villain
Enter Dante Reyes, the son of Fast Five’s downed villain. Playing him is Jason Momoa, who changes gear from his heroic title role in Aquaman to the first major bad guy in his career. Reyes, who forges a partnership with Charlize Theron’s returning psychotic Cipher, is coming for Dom all guns blazing. And Momoa made sure that felt real, performing all his own stunts, from fights to the thrilling motorcycle chases through Rome.
4. This is the most globetrotting F&F yet
The Fast & Furious films have increasingly been global adventures, but Fast X turns it up to the max. Shot in London, Los Angeles, Lisbon and the Italian cities of Rome and Turin, the film will have a real European flavour to it this time around. The first time in Italy, with action scenes filmed around such iconic Rome landmarks as the Colosseum and the Spanish Steps, it’s going to look spectacular. Let’s just hope Dom and co. are careful drivers. Yeah, right.
5. Street races are back
The origins of Fast & The Furious come from the streets. Originally inspired by ‘Racer X’, a Vibe magazine article about street racing in New York, the early movies in the series were all about those tarmac-gripping head-to-heads. Good news is, those blistering races are back, as Dom slips behind the wheel to take on Dante Reyes. Who will win? Who will make the loudest engine revs and tyre squeals? You’ll have to buy a ticket to find out.
6. It’s the perfect reunion
French director Louis Leterrier, who takes the reins for his first Fast outing, is reunited with F&F regular Jason Statham. The director and the star first worked together on the thrilling action film The Transporter (2002) and the sequel The Transporter 2 (2005). They even saw the original The Fast And The Furious together on a break during filming. “Afterward,” remembers Leterrier, “I said to Jason, ‘We have to do something like this. This is the bar that we have to jump over.’”
7. The soundtrack kills
The music in the F&F films is always integral. Regular composer Brian Tyler is back, this time incorporating hip-hop, reggaeton and hard-core drill into the eclectic score. Yet there’s more, with contributions including Jimin from BTS’ first collab with US rapper Kodak Black ‘Angel Pt. 1’, YG and Ty Dolla Sign link ‘Let’s Ride’ and catchy pop anthem ‘Won’t Back Down’, which features YoungBoy Never Broke Again, Bailey Zimmerman & Dermot Kennedy. Other artists on the star-stuffed record are Bay Area rap sensation 24Goldn, dance legend Skrillex and Argentine favourite María Becerra.
8. It goes back to Fast Five
Without question, 2011’s Fast Five is one of the franchise’s early high points. Why? Because it was at this point that Fast really started to take flight with hugely ambitious set-pieces – including a jaw-dropping heist through the streets of Rio. So it feels fitting that Fast X goes back to the plot of its predecessor, as the son of drug kingpin Hernan Reyes – whom Dom’s crew stole $100 million from – comes looking for payback.
9. And the Oscar goes to…
Fast X brings you one of the most illustrious support casts you could wish to see. Academy Award-winners Charlize Theron (Monster) and Dame Helen Mirren (The Queen), two Fast regulars, are now joined by Brie Larson (Room) and the legendary Rita Moreno (West Side Story). Larson plays Tess, the daughter of Mr. Nobody, while Moreno is the grandmother of Dom, Mia and Jakob. Yep, she’s the head of the family. Four female Oscar winners in one movie. Not bad at all.
10. It’s the beginning of the end
Fast X is set to be the first of a two-part finale to this staggering series, meaning you can expect one hell of a cliff-hanger at the end of this instalment. Fast X director Louis Letterier is already confirmed to direct the follow-up film. And, let’s face it, there’s not going to be a dry eye in the house – even among you petrolheads – as the final countdown to the end of the F&F saga approaches. Will everyone make it out alive?
‘Fast X’ is in cinemas on May 19
