Weekend Watch - Fast X

                Welcome back to the Weekend Watch where each week we take a look at a new piece of film or television media and give it a rating, review, and recommendation. This week’s topic, as voted by the blog’s Instagram followers, is Fast X, the eleventh film in the Fast and Furious franchise and tenth of the main continuity about Dom Toretto and his “family” of drivers, racers, and thieves. The film stars the usual suspects of Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Jordana Brewster, Tyrese Gibson, Ludacris, and Sung Kang joined again by cameos (and a bit more) from Jason Statham, Helen Mirren, Nathalie Emmanuel, Charlize Theron, Scott Eastwood, and John Cena. The film also introduces the new faces of Brie Larson, Jason Momoa, Alan Ritchson, and Daniela Melchior to the ever-expanding cast of characters in this high-octane universe of mobile heists, double crosses, and family. Let’s get into it.

Letter Grade: B+; for the most part, this is a really good Fast and Furious film, it just has a few too many ill-delivered one-liners, unexplained cameos, and a wild cliff-hanger keeping it from joining the upper echelons of the franchise.

Should you Watch This Film? If you’re ok with a pure thrills film, this film is great for that – entertaining and heart-pounding as all get out. If you’d rather only consume thought-provoking media, you can probably skip this one.

Why?

                Fast X fully embraces the niche that the franchise has carved out for itself, containing a plethora of cheesy one-liners, ridiculous car chases, enemies becoming friends, and some classic street racing to keep the fans happy. There are times when the film almost seems in on its own joke, particularly a high-intensity conversation between Brie Larson’s Tess and Alan Ritchson’s Aimes – high-ranking members of the Agency discussing how to treat the pattern of destruction that Dom and his team consistently leave in their wake. Its story defies the logic of even the suspension of disbelief, seeing the team travel to all points of the globe on thin leads and thinner motivations as Momoa’s Dante Reyes carries out his vengeful plan to divide and destroy Dom’s family. Momoa is himself the highest point of this film, fully committing to a completely unhinged villainous performance that just might be the best baddie of the franchise so far. It’s obviously a film designed to get your heart pounding and your adrenaline up, and it succeeds there even if it fails in its writing – there’s no denying that it’s a good time.

                The action sequences of Fast X are its defining trait, and each one delivers something different and new and ridiculous, which is why this film ends up working as well as it does even with its poor writing and vaguely frustrating cliffhanger ending. The opening sequence serves up a reshoot of Fast Five’s vault heist to establish Dante’s villainous origins – nothing too crazy, but it’s still fun to watch that scene on the big screen again. The Rome heist ends up becoming a giant game of pinball with cars and bombs rolling through the streets of the iconic city in insane but gripping fashion. Jason Statham and Sung Kang get a fight scene that goes a long way in quashing their characters’ beef, as does the reportedly directorless fight between Rodriguez’s Letty and Theron’s Cipher. There’s a solid character-establishing race in Rio between Dom and Dante that features some higher stakes than your typical F&F race, keeping the scene fresh. And the film’s final sequence, featuring John Cena’s Jacob’s “cannon car”, an army of nondescript black chase cars, Dom’s requisite muscle car, Dante pulling the strings, and a surprise twist and cliffhanger, delivers that gut punch that you want in a film setting up a duology/trilogy with enough action to still be satisfying.

                A next-level villainous turn from Jason Momoa might be the real piece that keeps Fast X in the top half of the franchise rankings. From front to back he full-sends the most outrageous villain that’s ever graced the screen in a Fast and Furious film. He matches the ridiculous energy that the franchise seems to have hit with its last few installments and cranks the whole thing up to twelve with flamboyant outfits, more cocky swagger than a WWE entrance, and an unhinged level of cruelty on par with the Jokers and Anton Chigurhs of the world, minus the cerebral films built around them. He had my jaw dropped for most of his screentime with how committedly over-the-top his performance was, and I look forward to seeing more stuff like this from the actor.

                The familiar high-adrenaline action of the Fast and Furious franchise delivers again in Fast X, keeping it a solid action film with the help of Momoa’s time in the villain’s seat despite some poorly constructed dialogue and a story that strains incredulity. It’ll leave audiences with plenty of thrills and high-octane fun even if it’s not among the best the franchise has to offer overall. This is a theatrical experience for sure if that’s what you’re looking for. If it’s not, I won’t recommend going out for a hate-watch. At this point you know whether you like the Fast and Furious movies or not, and this is not a big deviation from the formula.

Weekend Watch - Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

                Welcome back to the Weekend Watch where each week we take a look at a new piece of film or television media and give it a rating, review, and recommendation. This week’s topic, as voted by the blog’s Instagram followers, is James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, the third (and final?) installment in the quirky trilogy of films following the interstellar band of misfit heroes within the MCU. This film sees the return of Chris Pratt, Dave Bautista, Pom Klementieff, Zoe Saldana, Karen Gillan, Sean Gunn, and the vocal talents of Bradley Cooper and Vin Diesel in their respective roles in the franchise, joined this time by Will Poulter as the superpowered Adam Warlock, Chukwudi Iwuji as the diabolical High Evolutionary, Elizabeth Debicki reprising her role as Ayesha the Sovereign High Priestess, and the voice of Maria Bakalova as the Cosmo the (telekinetic) Space Dog. The film hit theaters this weekend to some mixed-positive critic reviews and overwhelming love from audiences. Let’s get into it.

Letter Grade: A-; the threequel can’t outshine the originality of the trilogy’s first film, but it makes enough fresh decisions while staying true to the formula that it remains a great watch.

Should you Watch This Film? Yes, but there’s a caveat. This is a much darker PG-13 than Marvel usually goes with – I would recommend giving this a screening before going with kids under ten because of how specifically dark it goes with exploring Rocket’s backstory.

Why?

                I’ll be the first to admit that I tend to be a little bit higher on Marvel releases than a lot of people, but I really think this is one that won’t be too against the grain. The issues of bloating and excessive interconnectivity are notably gone from this installment of the MCU, allowing the film to focus the entirety of its story on the development of its own characters and giving them satisfying conclusions to their character arcs. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 delivers an excellent conclusion for its players with plenty of wacky hijinks and fun music cues to excuse its darker deviations, particularly thanks to the excellent work of Chukwudi Iwuji in the role of the villainous High Evolutionary.

                The story of Guardians 3 focuses on Rocket’s backstory, establishing his connection to the High Evolutionary while also giving the team the motivation they need to take on the embodiment of science without ethics. For the most part, this feels like a return to the trilogy’s roots, featuring ill-advised heist attempts motivated by personal choices that then puts the Guardians in a spot to save many more people than just themselves. While familiar, the lovable characters at its heart, the despicable villain on the other side, and the originality of the settings help keep the film from ever feeling overdone or derivative. Within this story are a few flashbacks that provide some insight into the plans of the High Evolutionary and Rocket’s development into the character he was at the start of the trilogy that feature some pretty intense emotional moments regarding violence against animals that might keep some viewers from fully embracing the film.

                That villainy in the backstory and his continued performance in the present helps make Iwuji’s High Evolutionary one of the best in the MCU. His stakes aren’t quite as high as some might want from a film about the Guardians of the GALAXY – focusing mainly on reclaiming his lost property (Rocket’s brain) and the fact that he’s just a bad guy – but Iwuji fully goes for it and elevates the character to true villainous greatness. Marvel has had a run of “good” villains in the midst of their somewhat middling run of Phase 4 – Namor in the overstuffed Wakanda Forever, Gorr in the overly light Love and Thunder, Scarlet Witch in the story-light Multiverse of Madness, and even Green Goblin and Xu Wenwu in the fairly solid films No Way Home and Shang-Chi respectively – but they’ve all shared the same trait, choosing redemption to bring about their defeat. Marvel went with the Doc Oc formula from Spider-Man 2, and it worked for their villains, just not their stories. Iwuji’s Evolutionary is just really and truly evil, not twisted by any tragic backstory, just a bad dude with a lot of power who uses it to do unethical things, and Iwuji plays him excellently. This is not the generic “bad guy” of Guardians 1 or the chipper god/dad/planet of Guardians 2; the High Evolutionary is the answer to the question, “What if Victor Frankenstein had the future technology and the powers of a god?” and that answer is a terrifying blend of mania, ego, genius, and cruelty. This is a villain that you will absolutely love to hate in the best way.

                With such a great villain, the Guardians have an easy job of making the rest of the film memorable and enjoyable, with each getting their time to shine. Zoe Saladana’s new Gamora has to find her place in the galaxy following her five-year jump into the future, and she does so in a surprisingly impactful way. Groot gets to feature in some truly creative action set pieces that allow him to shine in brilliantly creative ways. Pom Klementieff’s Mantis gets to show off her own emotions and some real fighting skills as she truly finds her footing as an individual in this film. Dave Bautista’s Drax gets to actually show off his more tender side, still serving in many ways as the film’s comic relief, but with a more emotional impact than even his quest for vengeance in the first film. Chris Pratt’s Peter Quill finally gets to come to terms with his obligations to Earth while also processing the grief of his lost love and general relationships with women in a deeply positive way. Karen Gillan’s Nebula might be the true anchor of the film, reminding the Guardians of their roles while forging her own ties with the team separate from her estranged sister. Obviously, Rocket is the centerpiece of the film, and Cooper’s voice acting really lends a lot to the emotional beats of the film, and his story is brought to full fruition by the film’s end.

                With its weakest links being Poulter’s Adam Warlock and an inability to fully live up to the expectations set by the first Guardians film, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 still manages to stand solidly on its own thanks to the trilogy’s best villain and satisfying ends to its characters’ story arcs. Some of its darker aspects make this a film to screen before showing your younger kids who might otherwise love the MCU films, but it really is a refreshing return to form for the franchise, and I’m excited for the future again. Check this one out in theaters when you get the chance.