As a massive fan of K.J. Apa, it was pretty much a no-brainer to check out Prime Video’s motorcycle racing drama, One Fast Move. Our boy has certainly come a long way from his breakout performance in CW’s Riverdale, leading a faith-based romance in I Still Believe and a pandemic-inspired thriller with Songbird. Now, One Fast Move allows us to experience another facet of Apa’s impressive range, opposite Euphoria and Grey’s Anatomy star Eric Dane as his character’s estranged father. Written and directed by Kelly Blatz, the overall narrative and predictable nature of the script honestly is nothing we have not seen before. Few surprises are housed within, and Apa’s chemistry with Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin actress Maia Reficco leaves a bit to be desired. However, for abs-addled eye candy and countless scenes of motorcycle riding, there are much worse movies to watch in the comfort of one’s own home.
After beginning with a shirtless scene of Apa’s Wes pulling on a biker jacket and hopping onto a motorcycle for some illegal street racing, a brief car-flipping pursuit by the cops ends the only way it could. Wes gets cornered, and promptly taken into custody. Flashing forward six months later, Wes is just getting out, and must transition back to civilian life. The only thing on Wes’s one-track mind? When he can get back on a motorcycle! Instead of attempting to build a new life, Wes journeys to watch a professional race where his father, Dean (Dane), competes.
Wes attempts to spark a relationship with his father, who could obviously provide guidance for Wes when it comes to a potential racing career. However, Dean’s hard exterior and wild partying nature cause an immediate personality clash. Dean smokes weed for his chronic pain, and does not seem cut out to be a father figure. Nevertheless, Dean vows to train Wes so long as he follows all the rules. Motorcycle shop owner Abel (Edward James Olmos) offers Wes a job tidying up. Wes catches the eye of cute waitress, Camila (Reficco), who breaks her rule about not dating any of her customers. Living out of a motel with barely eighty dollars to his name, Wes’s full ambition lies in becoming the best version of himself.
The bulk of One Fast Move almost always involves one of the following occurring onscreen: Wes shirtless/in his underwear; motorcycle racing; or father and son waxing poetic about family histories and trauma. This leaves minimal time for a developing love story, and honestly even less for proper character growth. Wes is virtually the exact same person he was when the movie started by the time it ends, if more skilled at his craft. The story follows identical beats of other inspirational sports dramas, down to a climax putting everything on the line—including Wes’s future. Any conflict rears its head only briefly, pecking at the saccharine goodness but never leaving much of a lasting impression. A greed element with Dean looms without evolving into a fully-realized idea. Relationships and feelings over decades are more complicated to resolve than the simplicity in which they are portrayed. The setup and acting performances are all solid, but something is missing.
From purely a surface level, One Fast Move chugs along at a reasonable pace, weaving its tale of a dishonorably discharged soldier on his path to redemption. It looks pretty, too, slickly portraying the action without getting to the grime under its metaphorical fingernails. Well made certainly, yet ultimately not very suspenseful. In completing every entry in K.J. Apa’s filmography, it probably comes somewhere in the middle. Not bad per se, but by no means actually worth recommending. The conclusion comes suddenly, just when the wheels finally begin rolling into motion. All the pieces are there on paper, so how disappointing that One Fast Move can barely manage to sputter across the finish line.
Embrace the speed of One Fast Move, zooming exclusively onto Prime Video on Thursday, August 8th.
