Let’s not even try and pretend that audiences go and see a Fast & Furious movie for richly-drawn characters, complex narratives, and intriguing thematic undertones, but that doesn’t mean the saga hasn’t found plenty of acclaim during its time. However, with Fast X finally revving into theaters tomorrow, it’s already staked a claim for being one of the worst-reviewed yet.
At the time of writing, the 10th and probably not even penultimate chapter is currently sitting on a Rotten Tomatoes score of 57 percent, which makes it the lowest performer among the series since 2009’s Fast & Furious, which also holds the distinction of being bottom of the entire pile on the aggregation site.
Even more concerningly, Fast X marks the second consecutive installment to be deemed Rotten, which is disappointing when Fast Five, Fast & Furious 6, Furious 7, The Fate and the Furious, and Hobbs & Shaw all ended up above the 60 percent threshold required to be designated as Fresh.
It’s not the end of the world, at least it won’t be should the globetrotting blockbuster do what all of its predecessors have done and take a massive bite out of the box office, but after a five-film hot streak it’s nonetheless disappointing to know that The Fast Saga hasn’t arrested its decline in terms of quality.
Either way, we’re getting at least one more of them – possibly significantly more than that if director Louis Leterrier is to be believed – so there’s no shortage of time to get back on the right track.