Jason Momoa, who plays the villain Dante in “Fast X,” was upset he didn’t get to drive more in the movie. Still, at least he got to take part in a classic “Fast & Furious” street race. At one point, Dom (Vin Diesel) takes on Dante in a race designed to bring an end to the evil-doer’s grand plan. According to Louis Leterrier, who took over directing duties after Justin Lin’s abrupt exit from the project, that race was an important addition to the original script.
When Leterrier took over from Lin, he did an almost total rewrite of the “Fast X” script. He was also intent on adding a street race, telling Entertainment Weekly:
“That was not in the script, it’s something I added. I actually wanted a street race — I hadn’t seen a street race for a while and I wanted the antagonist to be a driver, I wanted to see our actors behind the wheel, I wanted to create special cameras and rigs to fly through the cars like we’ve never seen before. I did all that stuff and that was my dream come true.”
Of course, with the “Fast” franchise being what it is today, the actual race is much more than a straightforward battle to cross the finish line first. Set in Rio de Janiero, the competition turns out to be one of Dante’s meticulously-planned punishments for Dom, who indirectly caused the death of Dante’s father (see the aforementioned “Fast Five”). The race itself becomes a sadistic game of death when Dom realizes Dante has planted bombs on the other drivers’ cars, forcing him to decide who to save. Hardly the kind of NOS-fueled street action that propelled the first few films, but hugely entertaining nonetheless.
