Reviewed by Rama Gaind.
Director: Justin Lin, Universal Pictures.
It was a rainy afternoon, but being indoors was an enjoyable distraction from reality for 146 minutes! If on-the-edge-of-the-seat action-thrillers are your kind of entertainment where you do not have to think too much, then Fast & Furious 9 is the film for you.
Sibling rivalry, jaw-dropping stunts, high-speed car and truck chases and some emotional family moments placate the need for interim escapism. Best known for playing Dominic Toretto in the Fast & Furious franchise, Vin Diesel has been its face for two decades.
Toretto is retired and living off the grid, with his wife, Letty (Michelle Rodriguez, Girlfight) and his young son Brian. They are aware of the menace that always lurks just over their serene horizon. When the danger does arrive, this time, that menace forces Dom to confront the sins of his past.
As Dom says, the world has a way of changing and we change too. The crew has been on some wild missions from taking over planes, trains, tanks – and don’t even think about the submarines. Now there are cars flying in the air, and they are turbo-charged with unrestrained manoeuvres!
Dom’s team joins together to stop a world-shattering plot led by the most skilled assassin and high-performance driver they’ve ever encountered: a man who also happens to be Dom’s abandoned brother, Jakob (professional wrestler-turned-actor John Cena, The Suicide Squad).
The plotline is built around the brothers playing out the angst from their past. Jakob has always lived in his older brother’s shadow, and he now wants to turn that around.
In a series of flashbacks, we see how both of them, when they were teenagers in 1989, saw their sports-car-driver-father get blown to pieces in a high-flying accident during a California speedway race. From that moment on, the brothers became estranged. In the flashback, the role of the young Dom is played by Vinnie Bennett, and Jakob by Finn Cole.
The female presence in this high-speed cliffhanger is notable, with two Oscar winners Helen Mirren (The Queen) and Charlize Theron (Monster). Also seen with Rodriguez, are Jordana Brewster, Nathalie Emmanuel and Cardi B. Along with Mirren (as London gangster Queenie Shaw), another familiar face is Kurt Russell (reprising spy boss role of Mr Nobody).
Also known as F9, this is the ninth main installment, and sequel to the 2017 The Fate of the Furious, and the 10th full-length film released overall in the Fast & Furious franchise.
Director Justin Lin co-wrote the screenplay with Daniel Casey. As well, Lin has been at the helm of Fast & Furious: Tokyo Drift and Fast & Furious 6. His commitment to ensure viewers have the ultimate, exhilarating, up-close-and-personal cinema experience is ably demonstrated. Besides, you become an armchair traveller whizzing through London, Los Angeles and Thailand!
Fast & Furious 9: The Fast Saga is screening in cinemas now.
