As the "Fast and the Furious" franchise begins its end,
"Fast X" hits the nitro on action…and family. But with all the car chases,
explosions, and betrayal, the movie is bound to leave some lingering questions.
Warning: Spoilers ahead!
With Mr. Nobody nowhere to be seen time around, there's a new leader of The Agency who's also on
the hunt for Dom and his crew. Aimes is a bulky newbie to the franchise who's more than capable
of fighting in the field, and he has some ulterior motives that no one is aware of until the final
moments of the film. Aimes becoming the leader of The Agency is obviously all part of Dante's plan.
However, it's never really explained how Aimes became the next in line to take over The Agency.
He's never been mentioned before, and it's a little bizarre that Mr. Nobody's kid didn't
get the opportunity to follow in her father's footsteps. Maybe that's why Tess doesn't really
trust Aimes from the start and is constantly trying to get ahead of his plans. Still,
it feels a little too convenient that Aimes found his way into a position of power so easily and the
film definitely could've done more to flesh out his rise to the top within The Agency.
When "F9" brought Sean, Twinkie, and Earl, the fan-favorite trio from "Tokyo Drift," back,
it was a great moment. The franchise was finally celebrating one of its underrated
gems. By the end of the film, the trio is drinking beers with the rest of the crew at
one of Dom's famous barbecues. In "Fast X," though, they're inexplicably absent and it's
kind of suspicious. It seemed like the three were officially integrated into the group,
and, given that they've worked with Dom before, they're all clearly on Dante's radar.
"Dominic Torreto sent us."
Perhaps they'll return in the next film, and maybe two if Vin Diesel gets his way. Besides, there
wouldn't have been much more for them to do here anyway. Dante attacking everyone would definitely
give them a reason to get back behind the wheel. Maybe their return will even allow the franchise
to head back to space, which would definitely help to make the next movie much more epic. It's
a shame, though, that the "Tokyo Drift" crew has once again been left in the shadows for "Fast X."
Cipher has been a pain for Dom for multiple films now, but in "Fast X" she acts much more like his
ally. She warns Dom of Dante's presence and that he's taken a lot of her technology and manpower.
She even helps Letty escape The Agency's Antarctic facility after they've engaged
in some vicious hand-to-hand combat. Cipher is more friend than foe this time around,
which begs the question: Is she now an official member of the crew?
Given Cipher's past and the bad blood that persists between her and Dom's team,
this seems like a temporary alliance more than an actual team-up. Cipher definitely
isn't giving up on her plans for world domination. She's likely helping the team
because she feels so burned by Dante stealing everything from her. Cipher's skillset will
definitely be a valuable asset to Dom as he goes about trying to take Dante down.
Han's decision to go to Deckard Shaw for help is pretty noteworthy given their…difficult past.
"Let's dig some graves."
After fighting off some of The Agency's soldiers, Shaw is able to provide Han
and the other crew members with some weapons that will help them reunite with Dom. However,
when Ramsey discovers that Dante is targeting pretty much everyone that's worked with Dom,
she realizes that Shaw's mother Queenie is also on his hit list.
This prompts Shaw to arm up and go find his mother to protect her.
This is pretty much where Shaw exits the film, and his plan, as well as his future in the franchise,
is left a mystery. He'll likely return in a sequel where he'll no doubt be fighting Dante's forces to
save Queenie before working with Dom to take out Dante. Based on the film's post-credits scene,
Shaw may even find himself teaming up with a former frenemy, Hobbs. For now, though, Shaw
is somewhere out there, and fans will just have to wait to find out what his plan is.
One of the most heartbreaking moments in "Fast X" comes in the film's big finale sequence,
in which a grave sacrifice is made. Dom's brother Jakob Toretto definitely
shows much more heart here than he did in "F9" and acts as the cool uncle for
Little B. However, he is still haunted by how he's wronged his family before,
and so he makes a heroic sacrifice to save them. When Dante's forces start to overwhelm Dom,
Jakob decides to ram into the brigade, causing all the cars involved to explode. While this
might seem like a definitive death, it's hard not to wonder if Jakob will actually stay dead.
But it's tough to imagine how they could explain Jakob escaping the burning wreckage,
at least without sustaining some severe injuries. However, this is the "Fast" franchise, where
characters always seem to find a way to return from the dead even when it seems impossible.
Han, Ramsey, Tej, and Roman are off on their own for most of the film, after Dante's bomb
in Rome makes them wanted men. However, once they're able to secure a plane, they load up
some cars and fly toward Dom to help him out. Unfortunately, this all ends up being part of
Dante's plan. Dante fires an onslaught of missiles at the team and it causes the plane to crash and
explode just off frame behind a mountain. Did "Fast X" really just wipe out half of the crew?
The answer is left unclear, but it's probably no, since it all happens away from Dom and off-camera.
With all the cars sitting in the back of the plane, it's easy to see the next film opening with
a scene of them driving out of the plane and down the mountain to safety. It's an unlikely scenario
in real life, but this is the franchise that took a car to space, so nothing is off the table. While
it's definitely a gutsy move for "Fast X" to suggest that half of Dom's crew has perished,
the chances are the plane crash was just a bluff meant to give the film's finale more impact.
It was pretty remarkable when Han returned in "F9" after being considered dead for
so long. But "Fast X" somehow tops that reveal by resurrecting another character
that was thought to be a goner. As Cipher and Letty walk through the arctic tundra,
they eventually come across a submarine that rises through the ice, and it's operated by
someone totally unexpected: Gisele. After dying back in "Fast and Furious 6," Gisele
has somehow risen from the dead and is going to help Cipher and Letty escape their frozen hell.
The film doesn't provide any explanation for Gisele's sudden return, so fans will have to
wait for the next film to get their answers. It's going to be pretty interesting to see how
the next film addresses this shocking appearance from Gisele, but fans will certainly love seeing
the character return. We already can't wait to see her reunite with Han at some point.
Okay, we admit that the sequel doesn't really need to address this, but still, the indestructible
bomb in Vatican City could use some explaining. The first part of Dante's big plan is to bring
Dom's crew to Rome. He plans to detonate the bomb at the Vatican and blame it on them.
"What? The Vatican? Wow, you guys are going to hell."
While Dom's crew has averted disasters like this before,
this time their foe's plan essentially succeeds. It's kind of miraculous if we're being honest.
The audience is asked to believe that the metal casing surrounding the bomb helps protect it and
lets it roll throughout the city on its own. But seriously, what is that thing made of?
When it gains enough speed, it slices through buses like butter, and it can't even be stopped
by cars ramming into it. Even when its direction changes or it runs into an obstacle, it doesn't
lose momentum in the slightest. It's even more mind-boggling how the bomb doesn't explode when
it catches on fire, as the metal casing heating up would surely cause some kind of reaction. Dante
must be one hell of a planner because he somehow found the most indestructible material to protect
his bomb. This whole sequence completely defies logic, the explosive has literal plot armor.
Probably the biggest unresolved question coming out of "Fast X" is: Where does the franchise go
from here? Most of its characters are either in perilous situations or totally missing.
We already know that "Fast X" is the start of an overarching final story for the franchise,
with Vin Diesel confirming that a trilogy is on the cards. One of the
few people who is all but confirmed to be in the next movie is the villainous Dante,
as we get a glimpse of his bigger plans in a post-credits scene.
At this point we know that Dante wants to take out everyone who has ever worked with
Dom's crew before. However, no one expected that his next big target would be Luke Hobbs,
who is seen getting a call from Dante while on a mission. Hobbs was actually the one who put a
bullet in Dante's father during the heist in Rio de Janeiro, so he's firmly in Dante's crosshairs.
Dwayne Johnson and Vin Diesel had a well-documented feud after the former WWE star
joined the franchise, so his appearance here was a surprise. But it's clear that Hobbs is returning
in a big way, and maybe with Shaw out doing his own thing we'll get a "Hobbs & Shaw" sequel as the
next film. Until the sequel drifts into theaters, the future of the "Fast" franchise is a mystery.