Fast X has arrived and unlike the fairly standalone nature of the previous nine films, this one pulls threads from nearly every installment - although primarily, Fast Five - and brings them all to a head, with a dastardly new villain in Dante Reyes (Jason Momoa) unlike anyone Dom (Vin Diesel) and his family have ever faced before.
If it wasn't already obvious, there will be SPOILERS for the film in this article, so don't read on if you haven't seen the film or plan on seeing the film in theaters soon.
The film kickstarts with Dom actually in a good place for once, enjoying a quiet life with Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) and Brian Marcos (Abelo Perry) as well as his family of Mia (Jordana Brewster), Roman (Tyrese Gibson), Tej (Ludacris), Han (Sung Kang), Ramsey (Nathalie Emmanuel), and franchise newcomer Rita Moreno, who plays his Abuelita.
Our heroes split up into different groups with Roman leading the team (Tej, Han & Ramsey) on a new Agency mission in Rome, while Dom & Letty enjoy some alone time at the house. However, things take a turn when a wounded Cipher (Charlize Theron) shows up and tells them about her encounter with Dante, who managed to turn her entire team against her, and tells the two about his vendetta against Dom.
They turn her into The Agency, where they learn from Little Nobody (Scott Eastwood) that they didn't sanction any new mission in Rome, so Dom and Letty head off, leaving Little Brian with Mia, and hope to intercept their team before something horrible happens.
Dom and Letty arrive right in the middle of Roman's operation, which, of course, was a set up by Dante and find themselves in a high-speed chase, racing to prevent a huge bomb from detonating and destroying the Vatican - something Dom actually manages to pull off at the very last second. However, unfortunately for them, Dante's plan had multiple layers and Letty gets arrested in the aftermath, while Dom and the rest of the crew are declared international terrorists, forcing them to go underground and make their way to a mysterious rendezvous point.
Then, we meet Agent Aimes (Alan Ritchson), who has taken over The Agency since Mr. Nobody's (Kurt Russell) disappearance in the last film, and Nobody's daughter Tess (Brie Larson). Aimes is convinced the Torettos have returned to their criminal ways, while Tess defends Dom cause she knew her father trusted him, but Aimes tells her to stay out of it while he pursues Dom and company.
She's in possession of God's Eye, which was first introduced in Furious 7, so she's able to track Dom down with relative ease in Naples and informs him that Dante is currently in Rio de Janeiro - the setting of Fast Five. Dom gives her his cross necklace and asks her to help Letty, while he somehow manages to teleport to a different continent and have his first showdown with the film's big bad.
We're also introduced to Isabel (Daniela Melchior) here while Diogo (Luis Da Silva) returns and the four end up racing, but there's a twist as Dante has placed bombs on both Isabel and Diogo's cars. Dom realizes he can't save them both and ultimately chooses Isabel - later revealed to be Elena's (Elsa Pataky) younger sister - and earns her trust in the process, but Diogo dies.
Elsewhere, The Agency comes after Mia and Little B, but are thwarted in their efforts when Jakob (John Cena) returns and delivers maximum pain to their agents before bidding Mia farewell and taking off with Little B, promising to reunite him with his father. Their B-plot provides some of the film's lighter moments as they evade baddies left and right, before receiving an assist from a helpful flight attendant (Meadow Walker) and going off the grid.
Catching up with Letty, she finds herself imprisoned at an Agency Black Site, which borderline turns this action franchise into more of a sci-fi affair, and is paid a visit by Tess, who slyly lets her know that she's on her side. With limited options, she stabs Letty and fakes being held hostage, forcing the guards to come in and take Letty to the medical bay, where Letty finds herself face-to-face with a recuperating Cipher.
The pair exchange pleasantries before Cipher uses her tech skills to render their captors unconscious and escape their shackles. She tells Letty of her escape plan and when it looks like the duo are about to work together to get out, Letty has a change of heart and the pair of action heroines throw down in a brutal brawl (that was mostly spoiled in the trailer) where Letty emerges victorious, albeit barely.
She then tries to leave via the escape hatch, only to discover that the Black Site is in the middle of Antarctic and her tank top isn't going to cut it in the arctic terrain. She makes her way back down and is greeted by Cipher who tosses her a heavy winter coat, and it looks like the pair will have to put their differences aside to make it out alive.
Meanwhile, Roman, Tej, Han, and Ramsey discover that their bank accounts have been wiped clean and are essentially left to fend for themselves until they can link up with Dom. Luckily, Roman is always prepared and reveals that he has thousands of dollars strapped to his body, which comes in handy as they try to find transportation. They meet up with one of Ramsey's old associates Bowie (Pete Davidson) to get supplies, but are betrayed and have to make a run for it, when Han decides to track down a familiar face: Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham).
Shaw is, of course, shocked to see Han and assumes he's there to kill him so they engage in a show-stopping fight while the other three are locked out before they can explain. The Agency arrives and tries to kill them both, so Shaw and Han team-up in an awesome sequence that sees Statham do what he does best. At the end, only Shaw and Han are left standing and bury the hatchet. Shaw allows them to use his base to regroup and dig into Dante's plan, where they learn about more of his targets, which includes Magdalene Shaw (Helen Mirren). Shaw packs a bag for himself and sets off to protect his mother - a thread the sequel will likely pick up on - while the other four board a plane and head off to find Dom in Portugal.
Back to the A-plot, Dante kidnaps Isabel, forcing Dom to come out of hiding to rescue her, but before he can do so, he's arrested by Aimes. As they're driivng on the same bridge where Hernan Reyes was killed in Fast Five, their convoy is ambushed by Dante and Dom manages to escape, while also saving Aimes, which convinces him to join the family. Dom goes after Dante and is stopped by him holding Isabel hostage, but thanks to an assist from Tess, Dom saves her and starts brutally beating down Dante, until a sniper wounds both Tess and Aimes and gives Dante the opening to escape. Oh and Dante steals God's Eye from Tess, allowing him to track down Little B and Jakob.
Dom leaves Tess with Isabel and heads off to Portugal with Aimes to save his son. At the secret base, Jakob realizes they're being surrounded and escapes with Little B in a tricked out rocket car, leading to another big chase. Dom and Aimes see what's happening, so Dom decides to get in his car and tells Aimes to drop him, so he drops his Charger right into battle, crushing two cars in the process and joins his brother in the race against Dante.
During a "shut the front door" moment, Little B decides to help his uncle out by fixing the jam on the rocket launcher car - something his uncle Brian would've been proud of - but in the process, gets captured by Dante. So, Dom and Jakob race after Dante, with multiple cars closing in on Dom, so Jakob decides to take one for his brother, and sacrifices himself by flipping his rocket car into four evildoers and exploding. (While it seems increasingly improbable Jakob survived the explosion, especially considering Dom's face in the aftermath, we'll hold out hope that the franchise has one last miraculous save in them before all is said and done.)
Then, finally, it's time for Dom to save the day and he unsurprisingly manages to do so by taking down multiple helicopters and giving his son the go-ahead to jump from Dante's car into his own at a pivotal moment, before he's able to knock Dante off-course.
Dom is pursued to the Aldeadávila Dam, where he's cornered by two semi-trailers and is about to be crushed, but he pulls off the impossible again and drives down the dam and manages to land his car safely into the water, with him and Little B later swimming to safety. They get a signal from Roman's plane and the cavalry has arrived. Dante is defeated!... Or is he?
Just when it seems like the day is won, a surprise rocket hits Roman's plane and sets him, Tej, Han, and Ramsey on path to a devastating crash, which Dom witnesses with shock. It's then revealed that Agent Aimes isn't who we thought he was. He's no Agency man, but is actually one of Dante's oldest allies and a flashback reveals that this entire plan was concocted by the two of them over the course of ten years.
Right when it looks like things can't get any worse, we learn that the dam is rigged with explosives, which Dante sets off and the film ends on a massive cliffhanger as Dom and Little B brace for impact and we're left to ponder their fates for the next two years.
As for those two epic returns, the first happens in the film's final scene as Letty and Cipher make their way through the arctic, having escaped from the Black Site they were imprisoned at. They're making their way over a hill where they're met by a submarine breaking through the ice and a familiar face greeting them: Gisele Yashar!
Yes, after meeting her end in Fast & Furious 6 ten years ago, Gal Gadot has returned to the franchise that made her a star and will now play a major part in the franchise's final chapters, which will ideally include a long-awaited reunion with Han.
Then, midway through the credits, another family member returns as Dwayne Johnson reenters the picture and sets the stage for another epic showdown. His character Luke Hobbs returns for the first time since Johnson publicly swore off the franchise and is seen raiding one of Dante's abandoned hideouts, only to discover a message left for him. "Dom drove the car, but you pulled the trigger. And now, I'm going to make you suffer. The Devil is coming for you... Lawman.," to which Hobbs replies, "Well, I ain't hard to find, sumbitch."
The credits continue to roll and now the wait for 2025's Fast X: Part 2 begins!
**While Brian O'Conner (Paul Walker) played a major role in Fast Five, he's only briefly mentioned in this film and is not a target in Dante's revenge plot. With the franchise nearing the finish line, presumably after one or two more films, it may be about time for Diesel and the producers to have a serious talk about what they're going to do with O'Conner before the franchise rides off into the sunset (if it ever does).**