Art of Gears
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Movie Review: “Fast & Furious 9”

By David Castro

HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA - JUNE 18: The carpet is seen during the Universal Pictures "F9" World Premiere at TCL Chinese Theatre on June 18, 2021 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)
HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA - JUNE 18: The carpet is seen during the Universal Pictures "F9" World Premiere at TCL Chinese Theatre on June 18, 2021 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images) /
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I am a devout fan of the “Fast & Furious” franchise and this afternoon I finally got my chance to see “F9: The Fast Saga”. The delay in seeing this latest installment is due to taking a vacation and spending a lot of time in my Mini Cooper.

I’ll spare you a long synopsis of F9 because I don’t want to give anything away or bore you with a plot recap. For that I recommend IMDB.

In this latest chapter we are introduced to John Cena as Jakob Toretto, Dom’s brother. It’s unclear how they are siblings, possibly different moms, because they have no physical resemblance beyond the fact that they’re both large dudes.

MIAMI, FLORIDA – JANUARY 31: (L-R) Sung Kang, Vin Diesel, John Cena and Maria Menounos speak onstage during Universal Pictures Presents The Road To F9 Concert and Trailer Drop on January 31, 2020 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Theo Wargo/Getty Images for Universal Pictures)
MIAMI, FLORIDA – JANUARY 31: (L-R) Sung Kang, Vin Diesel, John Cena and Maria Menounos speak onstage during Universal Pictures Presents The Road To F9 Concert and Trailer Drop on January 31, 2020 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Theo Wargo/Getty Images for Universal Pictures) /

They have a Cain and Abel relationship and fans of the series had no idea that Dom had a brother until the trailers for “F9” but despite the last minute introduction of Jakob it works.

Cena is pretty good actor, no master thespian, but he seems to know his abilities and operates within them. I figured he could pull it off, he showed some acting chops in the 2015 comedy “Trainwreck” with Amy Schumer, and lets be real in that a “Fast & Furious” movie does not require Daniel Day-Lewis.

Jacob is the only new addition to the series,  they got the band back together for “F9” and that includes Han. This isn’t a spoiler because his return was in the trailers and it did lead to some confusion for me but everything made sense by watching the movie.

His return was similar to an actor reappearing in a telenovela after their demise but it works. You don’t watch a “Fast & Furious” movie for realism, it’s suspension of reality. Which is why I find totally legit that they took down a submarine in the last movie or how Dom and the gang went from stealing DVD players to being benevolent international soldiers of fortune.

Car wise “F9” is legit and a Mopar fan would be in love with Dom’s Charger that features a mid-engine Hellcat plant. For the most part American muscle cars are the co-stars and there aren’t a ton of exotic examples.

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The exception to that notion being Helen Mirren liberating a Noble M600 for an extended drive whilst being pursued by local authorities. The handmade British supercar features a tin turbo-charged 4.4-liter V8 engine that produces a factory-rated 650 hp and will go from 0-60 mph in three-seconds. It’s a proper vehicle for a car chase.

What is my opinion of “F9”? 

If you dig the previous chapters of the franchise you will enjoy “F9”. It checks all the boxes of a good action flick; lots of explosions, cliche action movie dialogue, gratuitous violence, and suspension of reality.

If you don’t enjoy car chase flick starring pro wrestlers, I would recommend that you avoid it.

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