'F9' Provides More Of The Same But It's Worth The Ride
Starring Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Jordana Brewster, Tyrese Gibson, Ludacris, Nathalie Emmanuel, Charlize Theron, John Cena, Sung Kang, Helen Mirren, Kurt Russell
Rated PG-13
Action
Run time: 2 hr, 25 min
Directed by Justin Lin
In theaters June 24, 2021
If you’re seeing the ninth movie in a franchise, you have a pretty good idea of what you’re getting yourself into. Or technically tenth, if you count Hobbes & Shaw. But however you look at it, the Fast & Furious movies know what they are, and they don’t try to be anything else. There’s action, incredible driving stunts and choreography, the occasional one-liner and mentions of family. Throw in a baffling mission that the crew has to help out with, and you have created the formula for each and every one of these films. When you take a look back and realize that their first goal was to steal DVD players, it’s amazing how the scope of these films have changed and expanded since the beginning.
The plot doesn’t even really matter, to be totally candid. They also fill in the blanks for you on the pertinent backstory so if it’s been a while since your last foray into the Fast & Furious Cinematic Universe, you won’t be lost. Dom (Vin Diesel) and Lettie (Michelle Rodriguez) have decided to go off the grid for a bit but the rest of the crew convinces them to help out when Mr. Nobody (Kurt Russell), his plane and Cipher (Charlize Theron) go down. Then, it turns out there is a singular weapon that could all but rule the world if all its parts are combined, so naturally the team is going to team up and then split up to figure out how to stop this from getting in the wrong hands, hands that may actually belong to Dom’s never-before-mentioned brother Jakob (John Cena).
These movies have gotten more and more ridiculous as we’ve gone, but it’s in the best way. Some of the emotional aspects fell a bit short for me, but the driving sequences are more impressive than ever. This time, somehow, it is unbelievable the things they are seemingly able to pull off between stunt driving and CGI. Bringing magnets into the occasion adds a whole additional dimension to the plotting and destruction they’re able to accomplish. The only real issue I can put a finger on when it comes to this craziness is that it’s way too long. No matter how impressed I am by the stunts and visuals, I don’t need two and a half hours of this movie. The added backstory to try to add some emotion didn’t fully work for me, and cutting a lot more of that out would have done some good. Sure, we need some information as to why Dom “It’s All About Family” Toretto has a brother no one else knew about, but after decades of seeing these films, we don’t need a reason to care. We clearly are already in it.
One thing I’m warring with as we come to the (supposed) end of this franchise fast approaching is how these movies treat the loss of Paul Walker. At first, I loved the message of sending him off, literally driving off into the sunset to be with his family, but as we continue, their references that seem to indicate he’s just out of sight or will be around soon feels a little bit cheap. There’s a good chance that it’s unfair to make this call as someone so far removed, and if Vin Diesel is on board with it, and we know that Walker was basically his brother in his heart, then maybe I need to come around. Aside from this slightly complicated take on these movies, I’m still all in. I’ll take every Tyrese silly one liner, every moment of Ludacris and Nathalie Emmanuel being a tech-wiz duo and every incredible moment Helen Mirren decides to bless these movies with. I don’t know how the two-part finale movies are going to manage to be even more insane than this one, but I cannot wait to find out.