Fast X has absolutely no chill

polygon.com:

Ed note: This look at Fast X was inspired by the movie’s arrival for streaming on Peacock.

Though it isn’t always obvious, the Fast and Furious saga does have things on its mind. The series is obsessed with the virtues of honor, loyalty, legacy, and driving really fast — all of which ground an action franchise so outrageous, it frequently tips into the realm of fantasy.

Perhaps not so coincidentally, honor, loyalty, and legacy are also the pet preoccupations of the series’ star and unofficial shepherd, Vin Diesel, who evoked the F&F “family” when he publicly asked departed co-star Dwayne Johnson to return to the franchise. Diesel and Johnson’s off-screen feud paralleled their characters’ on-screen one. There was undoubtedly a bit of kayfabe involved — Johnson was a pro wrestler for many years, after all. But the lunkheaded earnestness of their back-and-forth barbs embodies the series’ most endearing trait: In a Fast and Furiousmovie, what you see is what you get.

To be fair, blockbuster entertainment designed to reach the widest global audience possible rarely comes with layers. Characters speak without nuance in Transformersmovies, for example, and explaining what’s happening in The Rise of Skywalker, in the most obvious terms — without really explaining anything — produced one of Star Wars’ most memeable moments of the past decade. But there’s a certain guilelessness to the way Fast and Furious does its plainspoken schtick that makes it uniquely charming. The series’ screenwriters may be cynical, and may be condescending to their audience. It’s the way those lines are delivered that feels sincere.

Blunt dialogue and charismatic delivery isn’t unique to the series’ endlessly self-referential 2023 installment, Fas