One Fast Move Review — This K.J. Apa Film Puts the “Tread” in Retread

Here at FandomWire we review the new Prime Video’s One Fast Move (2024) starring KJ Apa! This article does not contain significant spoilers.


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SUMMARY

This article is a review of Prime Video’s One Fast Move (2024) starring K.J. Apa and Eric Dane.
Prime Video’s One Fast Move puts the “tread” in retread.

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One Fast Move is an example of young adult star-driven streaming cinema, a recycled effort of substandard films from a generation before. The K.J. Apa vehicle is tweaked just enough to look and feel different, but unless you are a dedicated cinephile—or a diehard fan of the genre of motorcycle films—you won’t recognize it.

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No, One Fast Move is far from the original. It’s a direct rip-off of a series of biker films made over twenty years ago, like Torque, Supercross, and, of course, the infamous Laurence Fishburne film Biker Boyz. All of these films had howling plots, trying to create a The Fast & the Furious franchise of motorcycle films filled with murder and infidelity.
KJ Appa in One Fast Move (2024) | Image via Amazon MGM StudiosK.J. Apa in One Fast Move (2024) | Image via Amazon MGM Studios

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Prime Video’s One Fast Move Review and Synopsis

At least those films were campy fun. One Fast Move, at the very least, tries to build a world of human connections, whereas other films value style over substance. However, writer/director Kelly Blatz never quite reaches the emotional resonance his film aims for, settling for cliched shallow waters we have seen far too many times.

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The story follows Wes Neal (Riverdale’s K.J. Apa), a twenty-something veteran raised by a single mother who is arrested by the police. He spends a stint in military prison, is paroled but loses his military service benefits, and looks for a fresh start. With his mother passed on, he searches for and locates his biological father, Dean, whom he never knew.
KJ Appa and Eric Dane in One Fast Move (2024) | Image via Amazon MGM StudiosK.J. Apa and Eric Dane in One Fast Move (2024) | Image via Amazon MGM Studios

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Prime Video’s One Fast Move Puts the Tread in Retread

That character is played by former “McSteamy” Eric Dane (now looking more like “McWeathered”), a man who never met Wes and left to pursue a career in road course racing. Dean works for Abel (the great Edward James Olmos, who runs a floundering motorcycle shop). In the classic cliché, Blatz’s script has Wes pointing out that he has never asked him for anything but now needs his help.

Wes wants Dean to train him in road course racing. Here, Blatz could have introduced a sense of originality by teaching the audience about the grueling nature of the sport. However, the film puts the “tread” in retread, giving the script broad brush strokes on what it takes to be great. The entire film treats all of its subplots the same way, oversimplifying all of Wes’s relationships, both new and old.

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