The Fast saga seems like a distant memory of what once was. Twenty years ago this year, we were introduced to a literally grounded take on Point Break. Instead of surfers, it would be street racing with 2001’s The Fast and Furious. The film became a surprise summer hit and spawned a sequel in 2003’s 2 Fast 2 Furious. Then the films just kept coming, and becoming more and more outlandish. Somewhere along the way, it lost the roots of its source material. The franchise is somehow constantly reinventing itself and asking the question “how can we top what we’ve done?”
The saga has been in the hands of talented directors like John Singleton, Justin Lin, James Wan, and most recently the underappreciated F. Gary Gray. It has helped launch the careers of talents like Gal Gadot, and helped transition performers like Tyrese Gibson and Chris “Ludacris’’ Bridges to full blown actors. It has equally typecast actors like Vin Diesel and Paul Walker both. Sure, both actors have done other franchises and films. However, nine times out of ten when you mention either of these actor’s names to anyone they’re going to come back to the Fast and Furious movies. On the heels’ of the ninth installment, much like this year’s Spiral: From the Book of Saw, the question has to be asked - has this franchise run its course?
Sure by this point we’ve been waiting for several years for the sequel to 2017’s Fate of the Furious. In that time, we’ve had a spin-off with Hobbs and Shaw and a Netflix series. The family returns in F9: The Fast Saga. The latest installment introduces us to Dominic “Dom” Tortetto’s (Diesel) back story as he is pitted against his brother (John Cena) to stop him from taking control over every digital device on the planet. It’s hard to believe that we’ve spent nine movies and twenty years with these characters, and yet this is the first time we are seeing an origin story for Diesel’s now iconic hero. The film’s opening frames throw us right into a younger Dom as he coaches his father, a racecar driver (go figure), around the track for a lap. Had the film stayed with this singular scene it wouldn’t have been that big of a deal.
After all, we learned that Dom is now a father to his own son Little Brian following the events of the previous film. However the film sets that up as a subplot which runs parallel with the remainder of the narrative. Given the film’s thematic elements of family woven with this subplot, the ending is painfully predictable. The worst offense of this origin story might be the acting done within these sequences. Not only is it the worst acting of the movie - it might even be the worst of the franchise. Yes, I’m including Tokyo Drift. F9 brings back Drift stars Lukas Black and Bow Wow. While Drift is far from the strongest in the franchise, its connection to this film feels extraordinarily forced.
Black and Bow Wow return for what could have been a cameo. That’s not the case. Instead we are given these two characters to usher in the most ridiculous climax the series has seen so far. I know that’s saying a great deal but F9 definitely tops what has gone before it. The latest installment is one of the messiest we’ve seen. The pacing feels all over the place, dragging in portions of the narrative while also having high intensity fight scenes. The majority of the runtime feels like it exists exclusively for exposition.
It’s been nearly ten years since we’ve had an entry in the scenes that has had either Jason Statham and Dwayne Johnson. Honestly you never know how much you miss someone until they are gone. In most of those entries, it was one of those actors that would provide the comic relief. Sure, you’d have Tyrese Gibson’s Roman providing some of it, but it mostly fell to Johnson or Statham. The void can be felt. There are very clear places within the narrative where there is meant to be a joke and it just doesn’t land. Then when the comedy aspect doesn’t work in the first act they decide to get oddly meta in the second act. Only to lose both in the final act. Let me just say the meta analysis of the other movies within this movie is painful to sit through.
Overall, F9 is lackluster in nearly every way imaginable. Who knew that a movie about fast cars and explosions could be boring? F9 garners this reputation because most of the film is filled with an origin story nobody asked for and melodramatic family drama. There is no pleasant comedy like the entries before. The film is awkwardly meta in nature. When it’s not talking about itself in the third person, it is just flat out boring. Might be time to get a new ride - F9 may have run its course.
RORSCHACH RATING:
Mental Health Moment:
“It’s a dangerous thing to take family away from a Toretto.”
Family is as much of a part of Fast and Furious as the cars are. At its core, the film continues to grow its cinematic family. For as much as I didn’t enjoy the film, I can say I respect the realism of it. Up to this point we’ve only seen the positive aspects of family, whereas with F9 we are welcomed to a world that demonstrates the messiness of relationships. Relationships are messy in a number of different ways, but at our core we need them.
The above quote comes from Buddy, played by Michael Rooker, who is a family friend. Taking away family can cause one to spin out into a number of dangerous avenues for our mental health, like addiction, self-harm, or suicide. Cherish family - both your biological one and the one you’ve created for yourself. Yes it will be messy but it’s so much better to have them in your life working through the bad stuff than to not have them at all. It’s a dangerous thing for your mental health to not have a community.
If you or someone you know is reading this right now and struggling with suicide, depression, addiction, or self-harm - please reach out. Comment, message, or tweet at us. Go to victimsandvillains.net/hope for more resources. Call the suicide lifeline at 1-800-273-8255. Text "HELP" to 741-741. There is hope & you DO have so much value and worth!
Victims and Villains is written (and produced) by Josh "Captain Nostalgia" Burkey and others, and edited by Cam Smith. Music by Mallory Johnson and others. F9: The Fast Saga is property of Universal Pictures. We do not own nor claim any rights.
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