Flashbacks flop, fun filled Fast & Furious 9

Movie: F9: The Fast Saga
Reviewer: Taiwo Adeniyi
Director: Justin Lin
Run time: 145 minutes
Genre: Action Studio: Universal

The delayed release of the movie did nothing but heightened the suspense of the fans. It started showing on June 25 and has since grossed $405 million globally. This success in the opening weekend is nothing compared to meeting audience expectations.

The expectations of followers of the Fast and Furious franchises remain high because the producers, directors attempt to elevate the standard of the movie at every production. Fast 9: The Fast Saga is no exception, as high hopes followed the movie trailer.

The introduction of John Cena into the ever-rising casts of the movie elevated viewers’ anticipation.

With F9: The Fast Saga, Universal Studio delivered a movie that has it all, fun, family, foes, and flops typical of other movies in the franchise. But F9 also showed that the more things change, the more they remain the same.

Since the news about the release date of the new instalment, there has been high anticipation on appearances and additions to the high octane action-packed scenes that characterise the Fast and Furious franchise, especially the coming of Jakob (John Cena).

But the first scene in the movie, a flashback to the race track where Dominic Torreto’s (Vin Diesel) dad (JD Pardo) died in a crash gave a glimpse into the producer’s approach to this sequel and then it was from one flashback to the another focusing on how Dominic’s relationship with his brother (Jakob) turned sour and the ‘resurrection of Han (Sung Kang).

Kudos to the producer who has been able to transform Vin Diesel, who since his cameo has been the face of Fast and Furious from a car Heister to a fugitive, and now a saviour of the world in the movie instalments.

The Fast Saga is typical of the franchise works with Dominic carrying a burden of responsibility for family members, including friends as the ‘golden’ son. And the golden son’s responsibility is, stopping the ‘prodigal’ son (Jakob) from getting a device that could control the world’s weapon system. A job Jakob was contracted to carry out by Cipher.

This time it was not the Gods-eye, but Ares, a device capable of controlling any binary-computed device.

The task of Dominic and his crew was to keep it away from Jakob (John Cena) who was financed by the spoilt son of an unnamed world leader. The plot centres on the recovery of the device that had been divided into two pieces and kept at different secured locations. The device has a key, which was connected to the return of Han to the franchise.

This mission had a turnaround with Dominic’s desire to live in a remote location without internet and telecoms connectivity with young Brian and Letty. From that moment the fun never stopped. Fun because this movie is better described as a comedy with Roman (Tyrese Gibson) at the centre of it all.

Fast 9 continues to defy gravitational principles and has been able to sustain its tricks and twists in keeping the audience at the edge of their seats despite the demise of Paul Walker and the tough love between Dwayne Johnson (Hobbs) and Vin Diesel.

The producers must have been conscious of the questions as regards the longevity of the casts. Though not an iconic superhero movie like Marvel’s, there are scenes where the casts demonstrated superhero and steel-man abilities like Roman being shot by 14 armed men at a crash site of an aeroplane in South America without staggering.

Among the steel-man scenes in the movie was also an antagonist, who crashed into a giant iron-road signage while on a moving vehicle, it was as if there were cushions behind him, he stood firm until he was knocked down by another vehicle.

Dom also crashed into a door frame without flicking. He also survived having fallen several metres from a collapsed building into the water alongside concrete debris only to be up and running.

Their continued invincibility puts to question the authenticity of the stunts portrayed in the movie. And the stunts in this movie were rather lazy and unimaginative: magnets. There are magnets and more magnets pulling vehicles across streets and lifting race cars from crashing. These scenes are monotonous and predictive.

The climax of the movie, the clash between Jakob and Dominic was rather short. Viewers expecting an energetic and intriguing fight as it were, between Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) and Dominic in Fast Five would be disappointed.

Then, the flashbacks; the movie took viewers to the past while in the present. It showed the death of Dominic’s father and a younger Dominic as well as Jakob. Dominic’s time in prison was also shown and what led to his grudge against his brother after the death of their father. Yes, there are several flashbacks as Han’s escape from the car wreckage that was said to have killed him was also shown with Mr Nobody pulling the strings.

For fans of Fast and Furious, there are several arguably highs to enjoy, especially seeing this sequel as a comedy. Street racing turned car-nage and then who races in space? The female casts were actively involved with Mia fighting with kitchen utensils in Tokyo, then Ramsey is driving for the first time and Letty continuing her duty in keeping the family together and ensuring Dominic stays alive.

More cheering news for fans of Cardi B, it is her cameo. The US rapper and songwriter played the role of Leysa in her first appearance in the Fast and Furious franchise as she led an all-female crew to ensure that Dominic continues in his quest to save the world.

There are a few romantic scenes, but the vulgar words mean parental guidance would be needed even with viewers above 13 years of age.

The movie started showing in Nigeria on June 25 ends, leaving fans with more questions than answers and obviously setting the stage for another sequel. The next sequel would have to do better because of the high-flying flops in the Fast Saga. This is below the expected standard of the movie franchise and would need a strong comeback to reclaim its disappearing glory or risk living in past glory.

Viewers are left with high hopes for Fast and Furious 10 or should I say ‘FX’. Who was Jason Statham hitting in a punching bag? Was it Mr Nobody that disrupted the beating? Did Dom’s father die or Mr Nobody pulled another trick as he did with Han? What is Cipher’s next move having failed in using Jakob against his brother?

Vin Diesel as Dominic Toretto; Michelle Rodriguez as Letty; Jordana Brewster as Mia; Tyrese Gibson as Roman; Cardi B as Leysi; Ludacris as Tej; Nathalie Emmanuel as Ramsey; Charlize Theron as Cipher; John Cena as Jakob; Finn Cole as Young Jakob; Vinnie Bennett as Young Dom; Sung Kang as Han; Anna Sawai as Elle; Helen Mirren as Queenie; Kurt Russell as Mr Nobody; Lucas Black as Sean; JD Pardo as Jack Toretto; Isaac and Immanuel Holtane as Little Brian.