Running on fumes.

I mean, what the hell is there to say about the Fast & Furious franchise that hasn’t been said a million times before? We’re two decades and ten movies deep into this lovable nonsense now and we all know full well what we’re getting ourselves into with every instalment. Or do we?

Over many missions and against impossible odds, Dom Toretto (Vin Diesel) and his family have outsmarted and outdriven every foe in their path. Now, they must confront the most lethal opponent they've ever faced. Fuelled by revenge, a terrifying threat emerges from the shadows of the past to shatter Dom's world and destroy everything - and everyone - he loves.

Like many of the previous entries in this series, Fast X is as big and as dumb as they come, but while a lot of its predecessors served up a huge dollop of fun on the side, in all honesty, there’s not a whole lot to be found here.

Causing collateral damage from Rome to Rio, the scope of this thing is as enormous and as all-consuming as the franchise has ever been, however, buried under this flabby surface, something just feels off.

Slapdash and sorely lacking in creativity, Fast X’s action – the one element you could always rely upon with any Fast film – suddenly feels wholly unremarkable and completely unable to mask the vast array of issues that dog the rest of the film.

The set pieces are certainly there, and they’re as overblown as ever, yet the craziness and the singular absurdness we’ve seen from previous Fast films is largely absent, leading to a string of disappointingly generic action moments that barely make it out of first gear.

Whether it’s the knock-on effect of covid or the widely reported director issues (which saw Justin Lin’s spat with Vin Diesel lead to him being replaced at the last minute by Louis Leterrier) it’s hard to tell, but there’s something about the film’s action that comes off rushed, half-arsed, and well below the standard of high-octane ridiculousness we’ve all come to expect from the Fast Saga.

Something about it all just doesn’t add up, and while we’ve grown accustomed to Fast & Furious movies dialling it up to eleven for our viewing pleasure, so much of X’s action feels painfully dialled in.

Which is a bit of a problem when all that insanity is intended to mask a film’s shortcomings elsewhere. Because boy, are there plenty of shortcomings with Fast X.

At this point, it almost feels futile to rip any entry in the Fast franchise for the poor quality of its writing, yet it’s incredibly hard to overlook it this time round.

Of course, no one truly sits down to watch any Fast & Furious movie expecting Citizen Kane, however, the frequently clunky, wince-inducing dialogue and awkwardly lacklustre plot (that seems to be in place purely to service a random bunch of unnecessary cameos) are badly exposed by the paucity of batshit crazy action we’ve grown accustomed to over the years.

For their part, most of the cast do a gallant job injecting energy into things. As a group they are a likeable bunch and it’s really on the affability of the core team that the Fast franchise has a crutch to lean on outside its insane action, and while there’s something amiss with Fast X as a whole, its “family” – barring perhaps Vin Diesel, who appears to get more wooden by the movie – do their best with what their given.

Of the group, it’s the film’s villain that’s by far its biggest standout. As the latest larger-than-life antagonist to take on the family in this long running series, Jason Momoa leaves not an inch of scenery unchewed in his one-man mission to bring that patented brand of big, silly Fast & Furious energy X is otherwise missing.

Landing somewhere between the Joker and Eddie Izzard, Momoa’s sadistic showboat, Dante, is an absolute whirlwind of villainous comic book excess and bizarre, baroque flamboyance that instantly marks him out as one of the finest bad guys in the entire Fast franchise.

With an extravagance that’s only magnified when placed opposite the aggressively stoic Vin Diesel, Momoa manages to level up what is otherwise disappointingly drab blockbuster fare, injecting a little nitrous oxide into Fast X’s engine just as it looks to be running on empty.

Saddled with a terrible plot, a distinct lack of energy, and a lingering sense of familiarity, Fast X is undoubtedly big and dumb but struggles to match its predecessors on the fun front. With an overwhelming sense of wheel-spinning and a big dip in action quality, the cracks are really starting to show, as it becomes increasingly apparent that the end of this franchise’s road can’t come fast enough.

Fast X is in cinemas now.