22 years after the franchise launched with 2001’s The Fast and the Furious, the series reaches its tenth entry – and it finally embraces Roman numerals! Thus we look at 2023’s Fast X.

As depicted in Fast Five, the crew led by Dom Toretto (Vin Diesel) took down Brazilian drug lord Hernan Reyes (Joaquim de Almeida). This left Reyes dead and his son Dante (Jason Momoa) on a path for revenge.

A very slow path, apparently, as Dante finds himself still after Dom more than a decade later. Finally on the offensive, Dante unleashes a complicated plan to take down what Dom loves the most: his family.

Oh, Dom has a family? Did they bring this up in prior films?

Snark aside, the Fast franchise’s obsession with the concept of “family” became tedious many films ago. Not that I mind the general idea, but the series takes it to comical extremes.

According to a patient commentator on IMDB, the word “family” gets used 56 times in Fast X. Even for this franchise, this seems excessive.

I do like that Fast X manages to wink at the theme’s absurdity – briefly, at least. In one scene, we get a reference to the ever-expanding “Toretto clan” as a cult with cookouts.

That moment of self-mockery becomes the only refreshing element in this largely tedious movie. Fast X so closely hews to the template of the last few flicks that I felt tempted to just say “read prior review” and leave it at that.

Like 2021’s F9: The Fast Saga, Fast X suffers from a convoluted plot that needs to fill way too many mouths. Granted, that can happen when a franchise reaches 10 movies, as the roster of characters just gets bigger and bigger.

Fast X brings back most of those picked up along the prior nine flicks and adds a few new prominent roles. These mean a “main cast” of at least a dozen plus others who play decent parts.

A smarter production company would realize how unwieldy this is and pare back, but that loony obsession with “family” won’t let them. They feel the need to remind us that this clan sticks together forever, so they can’t shed any of the characters.

As a result, Fast X splits into a slew of subplots. Sure, they all wind up connected to the main Dante story, but the end product nonetheless feels awfully clunky and disjointed.

Fast X provides the longest of the 10 movies – and it lacks a real ending! Allegedly the eleventh Fast will be the last, so Fast X concludes with a cliffhanger.

And I believe this will happen simply because the financial results don’t support a continuation past Movie 11. The franchise peaked with 2015’s Furious 7, a film that made $353 million US and more than $1.5 billion worldwide.

2017’s Fate of the Furious demonstrated a substantial decline in US earnings, as it “only” made $226 million here. However, with a worldwide total of $1.2 billion, it still made boohoogles of bucks.

F9 came back down to earth with $153 million US and $726 million total. However, even with a $200 million budget, it made a profit, and given its May 2021 release date, it could blame the continued fallout from COVID for the decline in grosses compared to the prior two movies.

Fast X continued the decline, however, and it couldn’t blame the pandemic. Also, it came with an alleged budget of $340 million, so even though its $704 million worldwide came close to the take of F9, along with 2006’s not-much-beloved Tokyo Drift it becomes only the second Fast movie to fail to turn a profit.

Diesel claimed in May 2023 that Universal wants the franchise to end with a trilogy. Perhaps they felt that way before Fast X hit screens, but I can’t imagine they pursued those supposed desires when the movie failed to make the expected box office impact.

Honestly, with every new film, it becomes clear that the enormous grosses of films seven and eight acted as outliers. For whatever reason, international audiences really embraced those two, but otherwise, this feels like a franchise that should expect totals in the $700 million range.

Which would look great if Fast X didn’t cost $340 million! When a studio drops that much money, they obviously expect something to run past the $1 billion mark.

It does feel like Wacky World to treat $704 million as “poor box office”. Nonetheless, it shows a franchise in retreat, and I doubt viewers who saw Fast X found much to make them eager for the eleventh chapter.

For all the series’ emphasis on family, Fast X feels oddly soulless. The characters go through the motions of their bond, but they all kind of blend into one beyond their cliché personality traits.

Inevitably, Fast X attempts cheap emotion via a character death. Oh my, this franchise sure loves to kill off folks for a hit of “depth”!

However, this doesn’t work, mainly because the demise on display feels so contrived. Also, no one stays dead in the Fast movies, so even if we really cared about the character who “dies”, we fully expect he’ll pop up again down the road.

Diesel seems utterly bored with Dom after 22 years. Also, at the age of 56, he bears a disturbing resemblance to a muscular Jimmy Durante.

The slew of returning actors fail to pick up the slack for the somnambulant Diesel, and the new performers don’t help. Momoa received a fair amount of praise for his work, but I can’t figure out why.

Momoa plays a big, bold, broad and quirky character who should be a breath of fresh air in this stale franchise. Unfortunately, it all feels way too calculated.

There's no joy or verve in the performance. It feels like someone said "we need a Joker-style character" and shoehorned Momoa into the part.

For reasons not especially clear, Momoa makes Dante a campy gay character, and this tends to feel more like mockery than anything else. Momoa spouts many terrible lines and can't make them any less terrible.

Even with a better realized main villain, Fast X would deliver a bloated and oddly tedious affair. Perhaps Fast XI - or whatever they call it – will rebound, but I won’t count on it.

Footnote: expect a tag scene midway through the end credits. It points toward the next film in the series.

Fast X appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 2.39:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. Expect the usual high-quality presentation here.

Sharpness looked good. No issues with softness occurred, so the film felt accurate and concise.

No concerns with jagged edges or shimmering occurred, and edge enhancement remained minor. Source flaws also failed to create problems.

In terms of colors, Fast X went with “action-standard” orange and teal. As much as I dislike those choices, they worked fine given the stylistic choices, and a few scenes broadened some.

Blacks were deep and firm, while shadows showed good delineation. Overall, this was a pleasing presentation.

Similar thoughts greeted the good Dolby Atmos soundtrack of Uncharted. Downconverted to Dolby TrueHD 7.1, I felt the soundscape delivered an involving experience in which the action scenes offered a nice sense of impact.

The film packed plenty of these elements, so we got many instances of gunfire, explosions, moving vehicles and other lively tidbits. Overall, the mix filled out the room in a satisfying manner.

Audio quality was positive. Speech came across as natural and concise, without edginess or other issues.

Music showed good range, and effects offered a nice sense of impact. These were the kind of loud, impressive elements one would anticipate, as they showed solid clarity. This was a very good soundtrack.

When we shift to extras, we open with an audio commentary from director Louis Leterrier. He offers a running, screen-specific look at story/characters, cast and performances, sets and locations, stunts and action, vehicles, various effects, music, photography and related domains.

While Leterrier touches on a good array of subjects, he never makes this an especially compelling track. He tends to lean toward happy talk and also goes silent a bit too often.

None of this means we get a bad commentary, as Leterrier offers a decent overview. He just never provides anything particularly involving.

A Gag Reel spans four minutes, 56 seconds and delivers the standard errors and laughs. Nothing memorable results – well, except for John Cena’s attempt to explain to little Leo Abelo Perry the concept of cassette tapes. Oh, and we find a look at Joaquim de Almeida before he underwent “deaging” effects.

Eight featurettes follow, and This Is Family runs 35 minutes, 13 seconds. It offers notes from Leterrier, producers Neal H. Moritz, Samantha Vincent and Jeffrey Kirschenbaum, 2nd unit director/stunt coordinator Spiro Razatos, 2nd unit stunt coordinators Jack and Andy Gill, stunt player Jeff Groff, 2nd unit director/supervising stunt coordinator Olivier Schneider, picture vehicles coordinator (US) Dennis McCarthy, picture vehicles supervisor Alex King, and actors Vin Diesel, John Cena, Jason Momoa, Rita Moreno, Michelle Rodriguez, Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, Tyrese Gibson, Charlize Theron, Alan Ritchson, Sung Kang, Nathalie Emmanuel, Daniela Melchior, John Cena, Jordana Brewster, Joachim de Almeida, and Brie Larson.

“Family” covers connections to Fast Five and story/characters, cast and performances, Leterrier’s impact as director, locations, stunts/action, and cars.

This program gives us about half of a useful piece, mainly during the second half, as that segment digs into nuts and bolts. Much of the show sticks with happy talk, though, so it lacks a lot of depth.

Fast Breaks goes for seven minutes, 46 seconds. We find “scene breakdowns” with Leterrier.

The director gives us some details across a variety of scenes. He offers a reasonable array of insights.

Next comes Xtreme Rides of Fast X, a 12-minute, 54-second featurette. It involves Leterrier, McCarthy, Diesel, King, Gibson, Kang, Momoa, and Cena.

As implied, “Rides” examines the movie’s cars. It mixes fluff and facts but usually works fine.

Belles of the Brawl spans seven minutes, 14 seconds. It includes info from Theron, Diesel, Leterrier, Brewster, Schneider, Larson, Rodriguez, and fight coordinator Patrick Vo.

Unsurprisingly, this one takes on the movie’s female characters, with an emphasis on their fight scenes. This turns into another generally informative but inconsistent show.

After this we get Tuned Into Rio. It lasts five minutes, six seconds and involves Moritz, Jack Gill, Diesel, Leterrier, King, Momoa, Melchior, and actor Luis Da Silva.

“Tuned” tells us about shooting in Brazil and the racing scenes in that part of the movie. It follows the same decent but unexceptional pattern seen to date.

Conquering Rome fills three minutes, two seconds. It brings comments from Diesel, Momoa, Rodriguez, Leterrier, and Razatos.

This one looks at Momoa’s performance, with an emphasis on his motorcycle-based stunt. Most of this praises the actor, but some good shots from the set give it a boost.

Up next we find Little B Takes the Wheel. This offers a three minute, five second clip with Leterrier, Diesel, Perry, Moreno, and Cena.

“Wheel” tells us about young actor Perry. Expect a lot of fluff.

A Friend In the End occupies one minute, 29 seconds. It features Diesel, Leterrier, and actor Dwayne Johnson.

The movie’s mid-credits tag scene becomes the focus here. It lacks substance – and provides spoilers!

Two Music Videos finish the set. We get “Toretto” by J Balvin (3:16) and “Angel Pt 1” by Kodak Black & Nle Choppa (Featuring Jimin of BTS, JVKE and Muni Long) (3:05).

For “Toretto”, Balvin does donuts in a car, scowls and gesticulates a lot. It’s a pretty annoying video, though fans might enjoy a cameo from Diesel.

In “Angel”, we get a mix of lip-synch performances and movie shots. The video seems less obnoxious than its predecessor, but the song’s a snoozer – and the overuse of auto-tune makes my teeth hurt.

A second disc provides a DVD copy of Fast X. It includes the commentary, the gag reel, “Fast Breaks” and “Conquering Rome” but loses all the other extras.

Ten films into the franchise and Fast X finds the series stuck in neutral. With too many characters and too little inspiration, it becomes a long slog without any real excitement or energy. The Blu-ray brings strong picture and audio as well as a long but inconsistent roster of bonus materials. I don’t know if Fast X becomes the weakest of the series but it certainly sputters.