Fast X Has A Goofy Plot Hole And Yes, We're Going To Nitpick It

The villain of Louis Leterrier's new film "Fast X" is a foppish chaos agent named Dante, played with aplomb by handsome superstar Jason Momoa. Dante is the son of Hernan Reyes (Joaquim de Almeida), the drug kingpin villain from "Fast Five," and he is on a quest to avenge his father's death. Dante, however, is an energetic Joker-like kook who is more interested in harassing and torturing Dom Toretto (Vin Diesel) than merely killing him. His plans don't stand up to scrutiny — how could Dante have known that the heroes would arrive at certain, exact places right when he wanted them to, for instance? — but the clunky, fun idiocy is part of the film's overall charm. 

There is one thing Dante does in "Fast X," however, that should have given him even greater advantages over Dom and his family. Near the beginning of the film's third act, Dante manages to steal the God's Eye, an all-powerful tracking technology that would allow him to locate anyone in the world in an instant. The God's Eye, "Fast" fans might recall, was a major plot point in both "Furious 7" and "The Fate of the Furious." Keeping the God's Eye out of villainous hands was of paramount importance to Dom and the shadowy government agency that hired him. In "Fast X," the villain finally gets it. 

But why didn't Dante use it to the utmost of its abilities? Dante doesn't seem like the type to remain austere and judicious when it comes to the technology he acquires. This is a villain who stole a neutron bomb and moved to blow up the Vatican ... in the film's first act! Getting hold of the God's Eye seems like it would be the most damning thing ever. 

Withe the God's Eye, which was created by more recent "Fast Saga" family member Ramsey (Nathalie Emmanuel), Dante could do any number of terrible things that, well, he doesn't seem to think of. If he wanted to be brusque about it, Dante could merely arrange drone strikes anywhere around the globe rather than being there in the middle of the mayhem. Following Mr. Nobody's daughter Tess, Brie Larson's new character, Dante could locate any number of secret black sites where high-tech equipment is stored, or find out where deadly super spies hang out. With the God's Eye, Dante would be unstoppable. 

But let's pretend for a moment that Dante, because he is so eccentric and scattered and goofy, doesn't have such grand ambitions in mind. His current plan likely took a long time to set up anyway, as he had to arrange remote-controlled tankers, helicopters, an army of mercenaries, and thousands of bombs. With the God's Eye, he might have new superpowers, but the plot he had already put into motion likely needed to be seen through. Why waste all those bombs? 

But even if that was the case, Dante now had an ace up his sleeve and access to a character that, when threatened, would drive Dom absolutely insane.

Dante could, if he wanted to, track down Brian, the character once played by Paul Walker. Dante could point a missile right at Brian's house and threaten to blow him up. Given how close Dom and Brian had become in the first seven "Furious" movies, this seems like the ultimate power play. It would also be a way to incorporate Brian into the plot of "Fast X," even though Walker died in 2013. What's more, audiences loved Paul Walker, and a villain threatening to remove his legacy character from "Fast X" would definitely make audiences hate him that much more. 

Of course, it's easy to see immediately why the makers of "Fast X" didn't want to do this. It might seem disrespectful to the memory of Paul Walker to treat Brian like a cheap plot point in a movie made a decade after his death. Additionally, one might recall the farewell that Dom gave to Brian at the end of "Furious 7," the film that was still in production when Walker was taken from us in a car crash. Dom smiled at Brian, sad to see him retire. The scene incorporated some stock footage of the late Walker smiling back at Dom. There was a montage of their friendship. The moment was constructed for audiences, of course, and not for Dom as a character. The movie wanted to mourn one of its heroes. 

In subsequent sequels, Brian would be mentioned, and his car would even pull into a driveway to join other characters for a film-end barbecue and a Corona. Walker was gone, but his spirit lived on in Brian. Giving the character a "happily ever after" was a fair and decent way to honor the actor's legacy. 

While Dante could have played the ultimate power move and threatened Brian's life, it would have perhaps been tasteless to do so. Yes, in terms of plot, it would make logical sense for a maniac like Dante to attack Brian, but the audience would not have appreciated the act of evil. Blowing up the Vatican is one thing. Tinkering with the memory of Paul Walker, however, is one toke over the line.