F9: The Fast Saga review: Bigger, Louder, Dumber

2/5

Story:

Dominic Toretto and his “family” return for yet another adventure featuring cars, action and melodrama.

Review:

It is almost inconceivable that the Fast & Furious franchise was once about illegal street racing. It coincided with an era where the genre was popular, especially through video games such as Need For Speed: Underground. However, since the fifth film, the series has gone on a completely different trajectory that relies heavily on extravagant, over-the-top action sequences and tacky melodrama. With each new film, the franchise has attempted to outdo the absurdity of its predecessors. While some of the films do offer a certain degree of entertainment value, F9 or also known as F9: The Fast Saga is utterly devoid of any kind of coherent storytelling, well-choreographed action sequences and entertainment.

The opening sequences of the film which depicts the Toretto family that includes Dom’s (Vin Diesel) father, younger brother, Jakob (Finn Cole) and a younger version of Dom played by Vinnie Bennett, is poorly fleshed out. These sequences were intended to offer the audience a tragic backstory to the Torettos. However, the poorly written screenplay fails to create the required impact to move the narrative forward. These scenes resemble a cheap knockoff to certain sequences from Ron Howard’s critically acclaimed film, Rush. This part of the narrative was somewhat of a letdown as it had the potential to elevate the film to a higher standard. Instead, it set the tone for a tedious watch for the entirety of its runtime.

It appears that the real-life conflict between Dwane ‘The Rock’ Johnson and Vin Diesel has resulted in Johnson being replaced by another pro-wrestler, John Cena. Cena’s portrayal of the older version of Jakob is clichéd and bland. This does not equate to him being a bad actor in any way, considering he was excellent in James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad, earlier this year. The rest of the cast, which boasts stellar names like Dame Hellen Mirren, Charlize Theron and Kurt Russell, is unable to salvage the film. The trio of Nathalie Emmanuel, Tyrese Gibson and Ludacris offers comic relief and a much-needed reprieve from a poorly written narrative.

There is a running joke throughout the narrative by Tyrese Gibson’s character that they somehow appear to be invincible. This could be an indication by the writers that the movie is self-aware of its own absurdity, but the poorly written melodramatic scenes contradict this aspect of the narrative. The forced emotional sequences between Dominic Toretto and his son are jarring and lack depth and fail to convince the audience of its importance. Films that are categorised as ‘dumb, action movies’ such as Demolition Man, Independence Day, Bloodsport, Air Force One or even Fast Five were self-aware of where they stood in the cinematic hierarchy but knew they offered high entertainment value. However, F9 offers nothing but action sequences and corny dialogues that are unintentionally funny.

The franchise’s decision to go to space is on the fine line between stupidity and bravery. Ludacris’ and Gibson’s natural on-screen charisma did somehow make the space scene work but there isn’t enough justification to include this plotline in the film. The ending and the post-credits scene seem to suggest that the franchise still has some life left in it but it remains to be seen how the franchise can go beyond having a race car shuttling through space.

Verdict:

The film is on course to become one of the worst blockbusters of the year.