Fast X's Most Over-The-Top Moments Ranked
The "Fast and the Furious" series is one of the most popular and profitable franchises in the world right now, with some of its recent entries raking in over a billion dollars each at the international box-office.
What makes this franchise extra extraordinary is its unusual trajectory, starting out as a humble "Point Break" rip-off to becoming a cluster of record-breaking blockbusters that rival established IP like Marvel and "Star Wars." Even better, the "Fast" films' casting encouraged diversity elsewhere throughout Hollywood.
This all culminates in 2023's "Fast X," the first part of a planned finale to the entire series, which went from two movies into a possible trilogy. "Fast X" also adds to the franchise's ever-expanding ensemble, with new cast members including Jason Momoa as the sadistic antagonist Dante, and Brie Larson as Tess, Mr. Nobody's (Kurt Russell) badass secret agent daughter.
Some fans were concerned about the departure of Justin Lin, who directed fan-favorite entries like "Fast Five" and "Tokyo Drift." Luckily, French action auteur Louis Leterrier ("Transporter 2," which starred "Fast and Furious" regular Jason Statham) was brought in last minute, and his frenetic and over-the-top style fits the series like a glove.
Speaking of over-the-top, "Fast X" has no shortage of the series' patented ridiculous — though undeniably fun — physics-breaking action set pieces. We're going to rank which scenes were the fastest and furious-est of them all.
WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD!!!
12. Jakob Toretto throwing a bad guy through the floor
In an "F9" subplot, Dom Toretto (Vin Diesel) disowns his own flesh-and-blood brother Jakob (played in flashbacks by Finn Cole, and in the present by John Cena), which is an admittedly weird story choice for a series centered around the concept of family. Fortunately, Cena more than held his own in "F9," both as a frightening and cunning antagonist, as well as a soulful, tragic figure who gains redemption.
Unfortunately, unlike in "F9," John Cena's Jakob Toretto doesn't get to do a lot of hand-to-hand combat in "Fast X," despite Cena's obviously intimidating size, background in pro wrestling, and important role in the sequel. For the most part, he's relegated to a seat behind the wheel of a car or in a spy plane.
Luckily, there is one glorious scene of Jakob kicking butt and taking names in the film. It's towards the beginning when the Agency — led by the new head Aimes (Alan Ritchson) — is tasked with bringing Dom's family in, including his son. That's when Jakob swings into action, throwing and shooting Agency goons around the house to protect the Torettos.
This entire sequence culminates with an amazing shot of Jakob throwing a corrupt Agency goon through the floor of the second story as the camera follows the downed agent almost all the way to the floor. Ouch.
11. Jakob's cannon car escape
So "Fast X," like all "Fast and the Furious" films, is pretty much super ridiculous throughout its entire runtime. From the characters' outsized personalities to the blaringly melodramatic and-slash-or fist-pumping dance music score to the saturated and constantly roving cinematography, the film runs on all cylinders even when something isn't crashing or blowing up. This means selecting the most over-the-top moments in it is no easy task. In most movies, a scene in which John Cena blows up a bunch of bad guys with a cannon car wouldn't be near the bottom of a list of its most over-the-top moments ... but "Fast X" is not most movies.
It begins with Jakob and Little Brian (Leo Abelo Perry) arriving at a secret underground rendezvous point to meet up with Dom, which contains the aforementioned cannon car prototype Jakob has been working on. Unfortunately, bad guys show up instead, and Jakob has to drive Little Brian in the cannon car to escape. Jakob then proceeds to blow the enemy cars away with — what else? — massive "G.I. Joe"-style side-mounted cannons while Little Brian looks on gleefully ... which may not be the healthiest response to fiery death a child could express, but at least he's having fun.
10. Jakob Toretto's glorious sacrifice
Despite its famously large ensemble cast and near-constant violence, the "Fast and Furious" franchise hasn't permanently killed off many primary characters. In fact, the most impactful death on Dom's team — that of Han (Sung Kang) — is reversed in "F9." Furthermore, Tej (Ludacris) and Roman (Tyrese Gibson) even had an entire subplot debating if they are immortal in "F9." Death means less in the "Fast and Furious" films than it does in the "X-Men" comics.
However, since the main series is (supposedly) ending soon, some deaths on the team might be more permanent as there's less road, so to speak, to bring them back. This means that — for better or worse — Jakob Toretto's explosive sacrifice during the climax of "Fast X" might actually stick.
In the film, Dante successfully kidnaps Little Brian, and Dom and Jakob are in hot pursuit — Dom in his classic black Dodge Charger, and Jakob in his makeshift cannon car. However, Dante is surrounded by enemy vehicles, and Jakob's fuel line is cut so he can't keep up. He then decides at that moment — after thanking Dom for showing him the light — to turn the cannons on his car towards the street and use the force of their blasts to propel him into the enemy cars, blowing himself up along with all the villains (except Dante), allowing Dom to catch up to them.
9. The life-or-death Dom vs. Dante street race
One of the inside jokes about the "Fast" franchise is that ever since "Fast Five," the films have become a spy-action franchise and don't necessarily have a ton to do with street racing. However, despite that, even the later sequels in the series try to shoehorn racing into the plot somehow — for instance, there's the street race in Cuba in the beginning of "Fate of the Furious." Luckily, in "Fast X," the street race actually has some deadly stakes. Not only that, but it involves Dom facing off with Dante face-to-face for the first time.
In the film, Dom goes to Brazil to meet up with Diogo (Luis Da Silva Jr.), a professional Brazilian street racer introduced in "Fast Five." who at one point helps Dom escape Hobbes (Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson). Afterward, in "Fast X," Dante and his criminal thugs show up, and Diogo once again protects Dom from Dante as his crew outguns Dante's posse. Dante then proposes a street race to alleviate the stand-off. We're then introduced to Isabel (Daniela Melchior) who also joins the race between Dante, Dom, and Diogo. She is the sister of Elena (Elsa Pataky), the biological mother of Dom's son.
However, not everything is as it seems. Apparently, Dante rigged bombs on Diogo and Isabel's cars, and makes Dom choose who lives or dies. Dom ends up choosing to save Isabel instead of Diogo, who blows up in a burst of flames. This decision also costs Dom the race, making Dante the winner.
8. The fist fight in Rio de Janeiro
"Fast X" begins 10 years in the past, during the events of 2011's "Fast Five." During this remixed intro, we meet Jason Momoa's diabolical Dante Reyes for the first time. We also watch the famous climatic heist — in which Dom and Brian (the late Paul Walker) drag the vault containing hundreds of millions of dollars of the Reyes' crime family's money with their cars — from Dante's perspective. Eventually, they knock Dante into the water during the ensuing chase scene, which leads to Dom and Brian's escape as well as the death of Dante's father.
Towards the end of "Fast X," Dom is captured by the Agency, led by Aimes, in Rio de Janeiro; however, not long after that, Dom and the agents are attacked by Dante and his newly hired army of mercenaries. An explosive firefight ensues on the same bridge where the finale of "Fast Five" took place — literally bridging the two films narratively and thematically. Aimes even seemingly becomes an ally to Dom as they fight Dante's mercenaries together. At one point, Dom uses a car door as a bulletproof shield. Later on in the sequence, Tess even shows up and shows off some badass bona fides before getting shot by a sniper and miraculously surviving — which is, in and of itself, totally badass.
7. Cipher escapes from Dante in a flashback
Charlize Theron's vicious villain Cipher first appeared in 2017's eighth entry in the franchise, "The Fate of the Furious." In that film, it's revealed that she's pretty much been the mastermind behind all the other "Fast and Furious" villains post-"Fast Five," such as Owen Shaw in 2013's "Fast & Furious 6" and Mose Jakande in 2015's "Furious 7."
So, it's an interesting turn when she shows up scared, bloodied, and beaten at the steps of Letty and Dom's humble abode. They surprisingly let her live which, ironically, stretches credulity more than most of the explosive stunts throughout the film, because she warns them about the incoming threat of Jason Momoa's Dante.
In a flashback, we see Dante casually entering Cipher's secret hideout to steal her tech, apparently on his own. She is unfazed at first, until all her trained security guards get phone calls of their family members tied up and threatened. They then turn on their former employer as Dante steals her stuff and walks away. What ensues is a badass fight scene between Cipher and all her guards. At one point, she uses a large guard's body to cushion her fall from a crashing elevator.
What makes this scene stand out, though, is how well it sets up Dante. He's flamboyant, scary, intelligent, and completely dismantles Cipher's entire operation in one scene.
6. Letty vs. Cipher fight in prison
After a botched mission in Rome, Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) is captured by the Italian authorities, and due to being framed for terrorism by Dante, she is sent away to an off-the-grid Agency black-site prison. Then, due to Tess' machinations, Letty ends up in another prison alongside Cipher, who is arrested after showing up at the Toretto house towards the beginning of the film.
Although Cipher initially helps Letty escape — somehow rerouting the ventilation system through her mechanical restraints (don't ask) — Letty still, understandably, hasn't let go of her grudge against Cipher due to what she's done to her and her family in the last few movies. This leads to an awesome fight scene between the two, as they have limited time to escape before Agency reinforcements show up.
But what really puts this scene over the top is the introduction of a laser robot in the middle of the fight. To be fair, the robot is ostensibly just a series of robotic appendages on a crane that cauterizes wounds, but during the fight, it becomes a ridiculous and entirely fun obstacle that Letty and Cipher have to dodge and weave around.
Letty finishes the fight, but eventually comes back for Cipher's help when she realizes the prison is literally in Antarctica.
5. Jakob's spy glider
After Jakob rescues Little Brian from Agency goons, he and his nephew go on the run at the behest of Dom. The plan is for them to drive to an airport and take a flight to a predetermined rendezvous point. Little Brian is initially disappointed with Jakob's seemingly janky car from the '90s with a kayak on top, but the two end up bonding during the course of the film. This includes a sequence where Jakob shows Brian the wonders of Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch's 1991 hit single "Good Vibrations," even teaching the kid some dance moves.
Upon entering the airport, they are immediately caught on camera by The Agency, though Jakob doesn't seem too perturbed by this. While on the plane, Jakob nonchalantly asks a stewardess for some alcohol, which he receives alongside a mysterious key. He then beckons Little Brian to the back of the plane with him, where he quickly dispatches some Agency goons in plainclothes.
Afterward, in the cargo hold, Jakob unzips his kayak, revealing a miniature Batman-style spy glider which he quickly assembles. Then, he uses the alcohol as quick fuel to help with their descent. Finally, he uses the mysterious key to open up the cargo hatch, and he and Brian fly out of the 747 in the glider. It's a borderline nonsensical and incredibly clever series of events.
4. Gisele Yashar returns alive and well
We mentioned earlier that death among the heroes has not really been a factor in the "Fast and Furious" franchise. Furthermore, the deaths that have happened in the series — such as the aforementioned demise of Han — were reneged on in later sequels. The only seemingly permanent death in the series (outside of some villains and possibly Jakob Toretto) was that of Gisele Yashar (a pre-"Wonder Woman" fame Gal Gadot). Gisele was a former associate in Mr. Nobody's Agency before joining the crew in 2009's "Fast & Furious," and becoming a romantic interest to Han. She died sacrificing herself in the climatic mission to bring down the villain of "Fast and Furious 6," Owen Shaw.
Or so we thought. Like the death of Han, this "Fast and Furious" death didn't turn out to be permanent.
So, after Cipher and Letty escape their prison, they are still stranded in the barren continent of Antarctica. That is until a giant nuclear submarine bursts out from underneath the ice. Afterward, the top hatch opens up to reveal ... Gisele. It's the only time we see her in the film, but it raises so many questions. How did she survive? Where has she been this whole time? Why is she working for Cipher now? And with only one or two more films left — and so many other plots and characters to service — it seems unlikely that we'll get an explanation that makes any sense. Though, to be fair, Letty's and Han's resurrections don't make much sense either.
3. Han tripping on drugged muffins
Yes, you read that entry headline correctly: Han eats muffins laced with hallucinogenic drugs, and he literally trips out for a scene.
It all starts once it's revealed that Dante uses Cipher's stolen tech to digitally siphon the crew's immense wealth and uses it to pay for an army of violent mercenaries. Luckily, Roman has stacks of cash attached to himself underneath his jacket, so they try to find a way to use the cash to pay for black-market guns and vehicles. Fortunately, the crew's resident super-hacker Ramsey (Nathalie Emmanuel) knows about a secret black-market operation in London headed by her former associate, the shady Bowie (played by comedian Pete Davidson). The place they go to is a fake storefront that deceptively seems to be stuck in the '90s, with old cream-colored PCs with CRT monitors everywhere, which Ramsey points out is the last place the authorities would look for a high-tech operation.
Later on, Han finds Bowie has "special" muffins sitting on his desk, and casually helps himself to a bite or two. We then see Han's POV — colors and images swirling and dancing. It's reminiscent of a lot of drug trips seen in movies, but it's just shocking to see it happen so blatantly in a "Fast and Furious" sequel.
2. Dom's dam escape
In the climax of "Fast X," Dante has kidnapped Dom's son, Little Brian, and Dom is chasing them both down in his iconic black 1970 Dodge Charger R/T. During this sequence, Dante throws everything at Dom — including helicopters that harpoon Dom's car to slow him down. Unfortunately for them, Dom is unaffected by nonsense like "physics" so he's able to drive his car so fast that the harpooned helicopters crash into each other and explode. Dom is then able to do donuts in his car using the tethered helicopters like two giant Medieval flails that slam into Dante's muscle car with Little Brian inside. It's a nice callback to the tethered vault that originally brought down Dante in the flashback.
This also gives Dom an opportunity to speed up to Dante's car, and he gets Little Brian to jump into his speeding Charger just in time. This all culminates with Dom and Little Brian in the Dodge Charger, trapped between two speeding big-rig trucks being driven remotely by Dante on top of a dam. There's no escape.
Except this is a "Fast and Furious" movie, so Dom decides to literally drive down the side of the dam — which, if we use the Hoover Dam for a reference, could be more than 700 feet high — while outrunning the billowing explosion from the crashed big rigs. He and Brian, of course, make it safely into the water at the bottom of the dam.
1. The rolling bomb in the Vatican
Now, however over the top the previous entry was — and it was — nothing beats the sequence where a giant rolling bomb devastates the streets of Rome, Italy. It begins with Roman leading a heist mission in Rome to steal a dangerous microchip, which all turns out to be a trap set up by Dante. When Tej and Ramsey get inside the truck that's supposed to contain the chip, it turns out it's carrying a giant, spherical bomb instead.
Eventually, Dante releases the bomb onto the streets of Rome, causing it to roll into and crush all the cars, buildings, and people in its path. At one point, the bomb crashes into a gas station, creating a giant billowing explosion. Dante's plan is for the bomb to blow up the Vatican, but luckily, Letty and Dom show up to save the day. Dom is able to drive into a crane that pushes the bomb into the water.
While the bomb doesn't destroy the entire city, there is still a lot of damage done after the explosion, and Dante successfully gets the media to lay the blame on Dom and his crew, sending them all underground.
What makes this scene so great is all the little unique touches, such as a practical stunt of Letty using her motorcycle to jump over debris while chasing Dante down, and how the rolling bomb splits a bus in two.