The Fast and the Furious

So I watched Fast X last week. It is not a smart movie, nor is it one I had any business paying to see in theaters. I was entertained though.

There’s a scene where Vin Diesel’s character, Dom Toretto, knocks a giant rolling bomb into a river by launching his car into a construction vehicle with a ball wrecker. The construction vehicle’s wrecking ball ricochets and knocks the bomb off its intended path, falling into a river and exploding underwater. I laughed, but at least I wasn’t sleepy.

Literally every problem in the universe of this saga is solved by driving cars very fast. That’s a terrible philosophy for real life, but a great one for cinema.

In another scene the villain, played by Jason Momoa, says something to Dom along the lines of, “I’ve stolen everything from you!” before intending to blow him up with an explosive device. Dom replies, “You forgot to steal one thing: my car!” He then gets in a car and out-drives the explosion. Once again, I laughed out loud. But heck, I’d rather laugh at something than be bored by it.

Will I watch part 11? Probably. At least it isn’t one of those boredom inducers that plague Oscar season.

Speaking of fast and furious drivers, more people these days drive like maniacs, with borderline kamikaze-level reckless abandon. Stress is contagious and the recklessness of the modern driver seems symptomatic of a deeper problem. I’ve had a few encounters with genuine psychopaths behind wheels while on my morning jogs downtown. They don’t heed red lights, crosswalks, or pedestrians in general.

Beware the modern driver and look both ways. Save the dangerous encounters on the road for the Vin Diesel movies.