Luke McWilliams gives his review of the 2021 action film, Fast & Furious 9, starring Vin Diesel, Charlize Theron and John Cena.
In 1989, Dominic and Jakob Toretto witness their father crash on a racetrack. Flashing forward, and Dom (Vin Diesel) gets pulled out of retirement to assist his old team with a mission; Mr Nobody’s (Kurt Russel) plane holding the captured Cipher (Charlize Theron), and a device that can hack into any computer weapons system has been downed by rogue agents in Central America.
The Fast and the Furious franchise kicked off back in 2001, initially as a Point Break knock-off celebrating the underground street-racing culture of Los Angeles. The series has since evolvedinto a whacky, hyper-realistic spy action adventure. Physics and biology no longer hold a place with cars doing the impossible and their drivers continually surviving all manner of carnage with nary a scratch. With the stakes continually rising, it becomes more and more difficult to engage with the on-screen shenanigans.
The franchise’s heart centres on the theme of family. With the highly publicised excising of Dwayne Johnson from the franchise, ex-wrestler John Cena tries to fill the void as Dom’s long-lost brother. The brothers’ early days are effective, but one can feel the writers working overtime to shoe-horn the antagonist into the movie, and further into Dom’s conflicted heart.
Verdict: A plot-heavy, lazy, by-the-numbers entry which sorely lacks the charm of Johnson and Jason Statham. Here’s hoping the planned final two entries jack up the charisma while conversely grounding proceedings. 2.5 stars.
Viewed at Palace Electric Cinemas.
- Luke McWilliams | themoveclub.net
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