F9: The Fast Saga

By Ephraim Belnap

They finally went to space, everyone

Starring: Vin Diesel, John Cena, Michelle Rodriguez, Charlize Theron

Directed by: Justin Lin

Released: June 25 2021

4.5 out of 5

    Why do people like McDonalds?

    Every healthy person will say it's bad for you. Everyone puts it down given the chance. Everyone knows it's trying to ruin your health to make a profit. Everyone knows if it weren't for call-outs like Supersize Me they'd pump the world until it died. And yet people go to it all the time. When they're traveling. When it's late and you want snacks. When you're walking home. When your kids ask for it. When you're in a foreign country. No matter how good we say we are, a lot of us will still go in the right circumstances. Why is that? Because McDonald's delivers good food at the end of the day that does what it says it's going to, forever and ever. 

    That is what the Fast and Furious film franchise is; a series of fatty, salty thrill rides that are just consistent enough that we'll indulge in them in the right circumstances. And just like McDonalds has served over 99 billion people (the world's population more than twelve times), the Fast and the Furious has made over five billion dollars delivering, because they manage to be what they're promising. 

Running from attack helicopters is standard fare in this world

    F9 is an adrenaline-pumped, gravity-defying thrill ride that embraces its cornball roots and combines them with the pseudo-spy fiction of its recent entries for a heartfelt and thrilling movie.

  As in all the movies, it starts with Dominic Toretto, played by the implacable Vin Diesel. He's settled down to raise his family, but trouble comes calling when an old friend asks for help, and soon he and his gang - the usual faces of Tej, Ramsey, Roman, and Michelle - find themselves chasing the Ares - a two-piece sphere that if activated, will allow monopolized control of all Internet systems, something a villain would like to get his hands on. And leading the opposition is none other than Dom's hitherto unseen little brother, Jacob Toretto, played by John Cena. 

    

Family can be complicated

- Dominic (Vin Diesel) on the left, Jacob (John Cena) on the right -

    Things are complicated. Nine movies in, you might be a little skeptical about the lead having a brother he never mentioned, but the movies weave it in seamlessly, using flashbacks and dialogue to reveal the circumstances behind it. John Cena plays the role with his trademark swagger, but also a stoicism he's rarely used before. His supporting cast - a roguish billionare named Otto (Thu Ersted Rasmussen) and the enigmatic Cipher (Charlize Theron) balance him out, and the clash between him and his brother is a two-sides story, showing how family can be splintered by small things. 

    Par for the course, this has to be resolved by a series of spectacular set-pieces, from magnetic cars and double-decker bus leaps to flipping trucks and flying knees. The action of the franchise has rarely been so polished, and all the crew are at the top of their game. The trailers only showed half of it. Like a beached whale, a film franchise can collapse under its own weight, but under the leadership of its flagship director Justin Lin, the series has revitalized itself, more than ready for the final two installments it's planning to make. With a cast hanging around fifty, it seems like an intimidating task, but this film proves there's still plenty of fuel in the tank. And maybe a little Nos.