“As long as we obey the laws of physics, we’ll be fine.” —Tej
Today’s quick review: F9: The Fast Saga. In response to a distress call from Mr. Nobody (Kurt Russell), Dom Toretto (Vin Diesel) and Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) come out of retirement to recover Project Aries, a device that can hack into any computer on the planet. Dom and Letty reunite with their crew—Tej (Ludacris), Roman (Tyrese Gibson), and Ramsey (Nathalie Emmanuel)—to track down the thief: Dom’s estranged brother Jakob (John Cena).
F9: The Fast Saga is an action thriller and the ninth mainline entry in the Fast & Furious series. F9 follows in the footsteps of its predecessors: a high-speed adventure that emphasizes fast cars, major plot twists, and improbable stunts. The story reveals a new chapter of Dom’s past, showing the death of his father (J.D. Pardo) and the falling out with his brother Jakob that set them both on different paths.
First and foremost, F9: The Fast Saga delivers action. Even though it retains the series’ heavy focus on cars and racing, it finds creative ways to keep the action fresh, with new stunts, new gadgets, and new frontiers for Dom and his crew. Just seeing what the movie comes up with will be a treat for action fans, and the series continues to top itself with the scale and the imagination of its action.
The other great strength of the film is its comedy. Tej and Roman take center stage here, falling into the easy rhythm established over the course of five previous films. F9 uses its humor to balance out its destructive action scenes and melodramatic plot twists, keeping the tone light and smoothing over any issues with the audience’s suspension of disbelief.
F9 has the same drawbacks as the other films in the series, only magnified. The series’ plot hangs together loosely at the best of times, and F9 goes even farther with continuity revisions and hidden secrets. The story achieves its two main objectives—justifying the action and deepening Dom’s ties with his family—but audiences who are even the slightest bit critical will find plenty of plot holes, improbable moments, and illogical writing.
Fans of the Fast & Furious franchise will get just what they want out of F9: The Fast Saga. The movie closely follows the formula laid down in the last few entries in the series, and the movie swings for the fences with its cast, its plot twists, and its spectacle. That said, anyone who is tired of the formula, never enjoyed it to begin with, or prefers stories with more narrative weight and internal consistency will find that it misses the mark.
[5.2 out of 10 on IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5433138/). I give it a 7.0 to 7.5 for unadulterated popcorn action.