Directed by: Justin Lin
Written by: Daniel Casey, Justin Lin, Alfredo Botello
Cast: Vin Diesel, Jordana Brewster, Michelle Rodriguez
Twenty years after the original The Fast and the Furious movie was released, Fast and Furious 9, or F9: The Fast Saga, hit theaters. I really like these movies. I find them entertaining and fun. I know they are unbelievable. With each chapter, more and more crazy stunts happen. I don’t watch these movies expecting to see a believable story, I watch them to be entertained. I hope that’s how others feel also!
F9: The Fast Saga, like all the other “Fast and Furiouses,” is about family, but this time it’s a new family member that we meet – Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) and Mia’s (Jordana Brewster) estranged brother Jakob (John Cena), who has NEVER been mentioned in any of the prior films. I did mention he is estranged, right?
Jakob is working with Cipher (Charlize Theron), the villain from the prior film, who now has a weird mushroom-like hairdo, to steal a device called Aries, which can hack into computer-controlled weapons system. Uh oh!!! Dom and his team Letty (Michelle Rodriguez), Roman (Tyrese Gibson), Tej (Ludacris, as Chris ‘Ludacris’ Bridges), Ramsey (Nathalie Emmanuel) and Mia to the rescue!
Almost everyone is back for this installment of the franchise, including Han (Sung Kang). Although it appeared that he died at the end of Fast and Furious 6, we learn that was an illusion, thanks to Mr. Nobody (Kurt Russell). A few other characters from prior “Fast and Furiouses” pop up in this one as well.
This is the first film in the series that includes flashbacks. The movie starts with the death of Dominic and Mia’s father at the racetrack. I recently re-watched The Fast and the Furious and paid close attention to the scene where Dominic tells Brian about what happened, and it was very close to how it happened in this ninth film. I was impressed with the consistency.
Of course there are crazy, outrageous stunts and storylines because, would this be a “Fast and Furious” film without any of that? There is a nice tribute to Paul Walker’s (R.I.P) character Brian O’Connor at the end of the film, as well as brief mentions of him throughout. I thought that was nice, since he is such a huge part of this series. Try not to cry! (is what I said to myself at that part). There is a mid-credit scene, and apparently there will be two more films in this franchise to look forward to.
