Jason Momoa As Dante Reyes Breathes Life Into The Fast Franchise
Momoa and returning characters outshine the main cast at the beginning of the last ride.
If you don't know the man in the image you have been living beneath a rock for a couple of decades. He's an actor, musician, and perennial fan favorite in Hollywood. He's a beer-drinking Viking that's known to be deadly good with a hatchet. Women seem to find him irresistible.
Momoa is easily the best thing to come out of the failed DCEU and his Aquaman was incredible. Sadly, that has gone by the wayside as the DC movie franchise is under new management. However, if you haven't seen his performance in Fast X and the news that the final ride of the Fast and the Furious franchise is a trilogy, then you're missing out.
Fast X brings more retconning to the series as they rewrite the history behind their story in Fast 5. Hernan Reyes (Joaquim de Almeida) had a son, a crazy, psychotic, out-of-control son that was with him on that bridge in Brazil when Dom, Brian, and Luke Hobbs took down the ruthless drug lord. After all these years, Dante (Jason Momoa) is back for revenge.
Of all the lethal characters that the 'family' has had to endure, Dante Reyes proves to be the most intriguing, most menacing, and most entertaining of them all. People that have seen the movie no doubt felt like that would be a fun role to play, as Momoa was a tour de force of freshness that after 25 years was sorely needed.
The movie opens with Dom teaching little Brian how to drive, doing donuts in a Los Angeles parking lot. The writers are clearly out to portray Dom as a man at a crossroads. It makes sense, considering all that Toretto has been through in the past six movies. Now, older and wiser, he has a son to look after.
Team Torretto is still working on missions for the agency and Tez, Roman, Ramsey, and Han are at dinner with Dom and the family while they discuss their latest heist, a high-end computer chip capable of being a danger in the wrong hands.
With the gang off on their latest caper, Dom and Letty are treated to a very unexpected surprise guest in the form of Cipher (Charlize Theron).
"Why are you here," demands Dom.
"Because I met the devil tonight."
When Little Nobody (Scott Eastwood) comes for Cipher, he asks Dom if he's alerted his team. Ding, ding, something's amiss. Little Nobody tells Dom and Letty, "We don't have a mission in Rome."
It's a setup, an elaborate one to boot, and we are about to see Dante run up against the team. The computer chip is a neutron bomb that is capable of killing tens of thousands and destroying most of Rome. Our Heroes have just stolen the truck with the bomb, making it easier for the insidiously entertaining Dante to set them up as terrorists.
"What should I blow up. The Vatican. Alright, I'll do it, but you boys are going to hell."
-Dante Reyes (Momoa) Fast X
For an angry, evil, psychopathic criminal, Dante is having the time of his life as he takes on Dom's team. Dante finds Dom's teammates an impressive challenge but doesn't let it dissuade him from enjoying himself as he terrorizes innocents, brings carnage and mayhem, and drives the team in one direction.
Jason Momoa hasn't played a villain in over a decade, his last role as a villain also putting him up against Sung Kang and another Hollywood megastar, Sylvester Stallone, in the film Bullet to the Head. However, Fast X is a bit of a mixed bag, thanks to Momoa.
Momoa plays the role with such a flamboyantly charismatic flare that he's made Dante fun to watch and a character that's intriguing enough you want to see more of him. So, as Dante appears to strike his first major blow against the team at the very end, when the Agency boss Aimes turns on the team, sending most of them to what appears to be a bad end, Fast X comes to a close.
Epics of the size and importance to the world as the Fast Franchise has become can end on a major cliffhanger, announce many questions and leave them unanswered, and know that people will flock to the theaters next year, and the year after, until the conclusion of the series. But wait, don't get up until after the shows are over, and that means the credits.
There was not one, but two stunning returns to the franchise as Fast X came to an ending. First, as Cipher and Letty (Working together!) escaped from a black site prison, the return of the Russian submarine from Fast 8 made us all scratch our heads. Even weirder, and far more exciting, was seeing Giselle (Gal Gadot) open the hatch. Then there was the mid-credit scene where we learn that Dwayne Johnson and Vin Diesel have mended fences. Luke Hobbs is back in the fight.
What's left to come is anybody's guess, but we can all be certain that it's going to be explosive, action-packed, and hopefully filled with more Dante Reyes. Jason Momoa played the role to perfection and was the shining star of the film. Hopefully, he's left alive to appear in the spin-offs we all know are coming.
About the Creator
Jason Ray Morton
I have always enjoyed writing and exploring new ideas, new beliefs, and the dreams that rattle around inside my head. I have enjoyed the current state of science, human progress, fantasy and existence and write about them when I can.
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Comments (2)
Jason Mamoa is absolutely irrepressible & owns the screen every time he's on it. Even when his character is down & out, on the ropes, or just flat ready to quit, there is a vibrancy & joy that simply cannot remain hidden. The risk for him is that he has so much charisma, he wouldn't need to continue to hone his craft for him to be successful. Let's hope that he continues to grow as an actor because, if he does, the work he does from here on out is going to be amazing.
I like his movie a lot