Fast And Furious 9 Movie Review

Released: 25th June 2021 (UK and US)

Length: 145 Minutes

Certificate: 12A

Director: Justin Lin

Starring: Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, John Cena, Tyrese Gibson, Chris Bridges, Jordana Brewster, Sung Kang, Nathalie Emmanuel, Helen Mirren and Charlize Theron

When it comes to blockbuster franchises, Fast And Furious rules the silver screen. The way it has pulled in general audiences and baffled others so consistently is an impressive feat in itself. Following a side show in Hobbes and Shaw, the series is back for a ninth run; you can be assured it’s starting to grow tiresome.

Sometime after the events of The Fate Of The Furious, Dom (Vin Diesel) and Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) Torreto are pulled back into the espionage world when a new super-weapon comes into play. The thief is Dom’s younger brother Jakob (John Cena), who has a personal score to settle with the protagonist. Teaming up with the rest of the crew, they begin their mission to chase him down in yet another round of high-octane action. From the get-go, F9 ventures into the ludicrous as the team somehow survives an attack from a heavily armed platoon. The middle act is a real slog as the characters split off on various fetch-quests around the globe; the return of a fan-favourite character (Sung Kang) feels rather hollow thanks to further ret-conning and the newcomers have little to no impact. Cutting through all this fat, the one element that does make an impression are the flashbacks. These moments, which come at a greater frequency, succeed at creating some poignancy while tying the franchise back to its street racing routes.

Sadly, everything else is very hackneyed by comparison; the expected action is rendered tension-less by its repetition and most of their climaxes are quickly undone by awkward transitions. For example, one moment Dom is tumbling into the depths of the team’s underground base and the next the group is discussing their next move as if they were never attacked at all. Tyrese Gibson’s self-aware discussion says it all; the crew has survived so much insanity that it all becomes very trivial. Yes, they do go to space in this one and no, it isn’t able to thrill the same way other series set pieces have.

While the concept of family has always been a centrepiece of the franchise, the cast of Fast 9 doesn’t have much to offer. I could start with how the young Bryan Toretto is abandoned immediately after the film’s opening or how Ramsay (Nathalie Emmanuel) is mostly reduced to an exposition dump, but the issues don’t stop there. With all the archetypes embedded into each actor, their delivery is the same as it’s always been with no sense of progression or variation. In a bid to go bigger and better than the last release, F9 throws too many cast members at the wall and expects it to stick. Every film pulls out a new antagonist to try and flip things on their head, ret-conning multiple events in the process. John Cena turns in a performance flatter than most in this series and his encounters with the protagonist really don’t amount to anything beyond a straightforward punch-up. It’s ironic that the acting of their younger selves (played by Vinnie Bennet and Finn Cole respectively) is far better than that of the present versions.

The presentation is again, mostly the same. Contemporary pop and rap songs are spread liberally across the package, and the cinematography is capable in its execution. The action is there and accounted for with Justin Lin again proving adept behind the camera. With that said, the many scenarios on show are rarely inventive, which speaks to the diminishing returns of the series. In other words; the same style of chases sequences, brawls and quick-talking plans still reigns supreme with the gimmick of super-charged magnets thrown in. Fast 9 is a very noisy film and with every explosive scene, it edges closer to a Transformers level of banality. The series has been inching towards this point for some time now and it now teeters on the edge of meaningless fluff.

Twenty years and nine movies in, the Fast And Furious franchise is running out of steam. There’s a lot going on in this entry, but little of it is inventive or engaging. The property has gotten by on bloated action sequences and things are now wearing thin. Those who enjoy the series will get exactly what they’re looking for and not much else. For the rest of us, it’s time to re-evaluate whether this series could or should continue further.

Rating: 2/5 Stars (Disappointing)