The Fast and Furious franchise is a very interesting series to pick apart because how the movies started is a drastic shift to where the franchise is at now. The first four Fast and the Furious movies focus more on the street racing aspects, and while there is charm within the characters like Dom, Brian and Letty, the problem with the first four is they focused on a niche audience and they never got the huge love that the first four really deserved. When the fourth one came out, Fast & Furious, the franchise was legitimately running out of gas (no pun), and critics weren’t too fair and while the box office wasn’t a major issue, the franchise needed to embrace a new thing in order to make the movies more successful ad popular. So when Fast Five was released, not only was Dwayne Johnson’s introduction a saving grace, they finally made the franchise what it should have been since day one: an over the top summer action franchise, kind of in the vein of a superhero movie. After Fast Five, the franchise was getting a better response from critics and the box-office was incredible and while money never determines quality, clearly the last four Fast & Furious movies were doing something right. The problem with the latest Fast & Furious movies is that you’re either with the over the top action and silliness that they all have. Whether it’s driving a giant safe in the streets of Rio, a car jumping through three different skyscrapers or Dwayne Johnson pushing a torpedo with his bare hands, the Fast & Furious franchise at this point has embraced what it is and fans of the original movies can either be okay with that or not. F9, by being the ninth installment in the franchise hurtles the franchise to incredible cheese and it works. F9 is a flat out superhero movie. It’s outrageous & absurd, yet it still has a great emotional core to it that felt surprising and well earned, given that this is the ninth movie. It’s a very silly movie but the franchise is best when it’s over the top.
After the events of The Fate of the Furious, Dom Toretto, Letty and their kid Brian, live and nice and quiet life that’s completely off the grid. Unfortunately, both Dom and Letty that danger is on the horizon, but this time things get a lot more personal. The threat this time around takes Dom and the rest of his team to levels where Dom has to come to terms with his past that has yet to be explored to the fullest. Dom then realizes that the threat they are experiencing is the most skilled assassin and high-performance driver they’ve ever encountered, who happens to be Dom’s lost and forsaken brother, Jakob.
As fun and as exhilarating these last Fast & Furious movies have been, and they definitely have, they aren’t masterpieces by any means necessary. The overall performances aren’t amazing, the writing is sloppy and despite the level of believability of the action, the Fast & Furious movies don’t obey the laws of physics, which is either a positive for some or a huge negative for others. However, F9 might be the most ridiculous installment yet, but it’s still just as silly and ridiculous as Furious 7 or even The Fate of the Furious. But of the newer ones, it might be the weakest one, but it’s a step above the very first ones. F9, is by no means a great movie. It’s a little too indulgent, it’s drawn out with the runtime and it does feel a little too silly in certain scenes. That being the case, F9 still carries the weight and the high octaned thrills that we have come to expect from this franchise. Being directed by Justin Lin, who’s already directed four other movies in the series, seems to have a great footing for these types of movies. He knows how to make each action scene build off of each other to grander effects and he even knows how to channel in some solid character moments, specifically between Dom and newcomer John Cena. The action and visual palette of F9 is pretty breathtaking and completely visceral. The stunt work and construction of each set piece has always been impressive with the latest Fast & Furious movies, and this one delivers on it once again in spades. James Wan’s Furious 7 and F. Gary Gray’s The Fate of the Furious might be the better proficient movies from a technical level, Justin Lin delivers another fun summer movie with F9.
One aspect of F9 that actually works is the confrontation between Dom Toretto and Jakob. Vin Diesel, is by no means one of the all time greatest actors, but Diesel knows how to entertain us with the projects he decides to choose to star in. He is, however, a cool action star and he’s always entertaining to watch in these roles, and he’s really a bright spot of all these Fast & Furious movies. Some of his line deliveries are a bit jarring and odd, but there’s still something charming about his character. He’s shared some interesting rivalries in the past with Dwayne Johnson in Fast Five, Luke Evans in Fast & Furious 6 and Charlize Theron in The Fate of the Furious, but by bringing in John Cena felt very fitting for his type of acting capabilities. John Cena is quite a surprise in this movie and not only does he feel physically imposing, the development between his character and Dom is surprisingly well thought out. It’s not winning any awards, but their physical conflicts to the verbal conflicts is a solid element from this movie.
You’re either on board with the notion of this franchise hurtling more towards being more over the top with each sequel since Fast Five, but what F9 does is it continues the direction on a path that feels appropriate and arousing. If you’re someone whose watching F9 and goes “Oh, that can’t happen” then you probably need to leave because what these movies have been are fun summer blockbusters and nothing else more than that.
My grade for F9: B-
Zane's take at the Cinema's 