Fast & Furious 9

While this franchise has always been a lot of fun thanks to its ridiculous, over-the-top plots and stunts, this ninth instalment feels like it might be a step too far, with massive retconning of previous films, and plot developments and action sequences that arguably stretch credibility beyond breaking point.

Premise: Living the quiet life off the grid, Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) and Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) are called back into action when an SOS message from Mr Nobody (Kurt Russell) reveals the return of someone long-forgotten from Dom’s past (John Cena).

Review:

I’ve long been a fan of the Fast & Furious franchise (especially from Fast Five onwards, where it really found its groove), and the preposterousness of the series is half of its fun. We all know that the majority of the stunts performed break all known laws of physics, and the plot lines are a wonderfully over-the-top blend of Mission: Impossible-style super-spy missions with soap-opera storylines involving everything from surprise familial connections to characters returning from the dead with amnesia.

But throughout it all – and I’m including everything from the parachuting cars of the seventh film to the battle with the nuclear submarine in number eight – the films have all felt like they had at least one foot in the real world (or at least the kind of heightened real world that Ethan Hunt and James Bond exist in). In comparison, Fast & Furious 9 almost feels like it’s a spoof of the earlier films, as it takes its ridiculousness to all new levels.

“…one sub-plot in particular felt like a “jump the shark” moment…”

Some of the stunts in Fast & Furious 9, despite being intentionally over-the-top, still feel like they can sit alongside the impossible-but-still-fun stunts from previous films, like the car jumping between skyscrapers in number 7. For example, the much publicised “magnet plane” scene from the trailer (which I won’t say anything more about, in case you’ve not seen it) fits into that category – yes, it’s no doubt physically impossible, but it could take place in the heightened reality of these films.

But many of the other stunts, especially in the second half of the film, make no real sense and seem to have no grip on reality at all. I’m trying to avoid spoilers (even though a lot has been given away in the trailers and other publicity), but let’s just say that when I heard one of the stars of the film tell an interviewer that Fast & Furious 9 sees the franchise go into space, I thought they were joking. They were not. That sub-plot in particular felt like a “jump the shark” moment, but other stunts later in the film involving electromagnets also don’t appear to make a lot of sense or even follow their own rules established in earlier scenes.

“…stretches credibility a bit far, even for this franchise…”

And I could probably forgive the over-the-top action sequences if the rest of the film was firing on all cylinders, but sadly, that’s not the case. The Fast & Furious series has had a number of different directors over the years, but one constant from The Fast & The Furious: Tokyo Drift all the way to Fast & Furious 8 (and the Hobbs & Shaw spin-off) was the writer Chris Morgan. Chris Morgan arguably did more than any other person to transform a failing franchise about illegal street racing into the billion-dollar super-spy franchise that it is now, and his presence is sorely missed in Fast & Furious 9. Whereas Morgan’s scripts deftly balanced the ridiculousness of the plot with the character-based humour and emotion, the script for Fast & Furious 9 feels far less polished.

This is felt particularly keenly in the villains and the retconning in Fast & Furious 9. Even though it’s been widely publicised, I won’t mention which previous character returns to the franchise in this film, but it’s fair to say that their return requires some pretty major retconning of the earlier films. Equally, the whole plot of this film is centred around the premise that there’s been a major character from Dom’s past that he, Mia and Letty have never so much as mentioned in the previous eight films. This does stretch credibility a bit far, even for this franchise.

“…the film lacks a truly impactful villain…”

Then there are the villains. Yes, Charlize Theron is back as Cypher – but she’s only really in the background and the film doesn’t use her much (although she is responsible for the film’s biggest genuine surprise). Instead, the main villains are John Cena’s Jakob and Thue Ersted Rasmussen’s Otto. Otto appears to be played mainly for laughs though, meaning that with Cypher side-lined, Jakob effectively has to carry the film for the villains. Now I’m a fan of John Cena’s work, especially his comedic roles, but for some reason that I can’t quite put my finger on, Jakob is just not convincing or intimidating enough to be the film’s main protagonist. This might not necessarily be John Cena’s fault (in fact, there’s even a chance that his ability to portray the uncertainty hidden underneath Jakob’s outward bravado is what undermines the character’s ability to be an intimidating villain), but whatever the reason, the end result is that the film lacks a truly impactful villain.

And look, none of the above is meant to suggest that I didn’t enjoy Fast & Furious 9 or that it’s a bad film. I’ve seen it twice, I look forward to seeing it again, and I laughed throughout the whole movie – it’s just that this time, I felt I might have been laughing at the movie rather than with it. The film may not, to reuse the motoring analogy, be firing on all cylinders (it’s probably my least favourite in the franchise since the Fast Five “reboot”), but it still runs, and there’s plenty of time for a tune up before the tenth instalment hits the screens in a few year.

Oh, and make sure you stay for the mid-credits extra scene.