F9: The Fast Saga (2021) - Review

F9: The Fast Saga (2021) - Review

F9 is the franchise at its most self-consciously excessive and its most narratively strained, a film that pushed the series' escalating action logic to a point of such complete physical implausibility that it made the case for a creative recalibration more persuasively than any critical argument could have done. Justin Lin's return to the franchise after a six-year absence is not without pleasures, but as a demonstration of the series at its most creatively exhausted, it is an instructive and occasionally entertaining entry that confirmed the franchise had reached the limits of its own escalation.

At a Glance

Director: Justin Lin
Runtime: 143 minutes
Starring: Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, Chris Ludacris Bridges, John Cena, Jordana Brewster, Sung Kang
Release: 2021
Critics Rating: ★★ (2/5 stars, excessively implausible but intermittently entertaining)
Audience Rating: ★★★ (3/5 stars, enjoyable for fans)

Review Breakdown

Plot

Dom faces his estranged brother Jakob, a skilled assassin working with Cipher to obtain a powerful weapon, while the crew undertakes a mission that takes them, memorably and absurdly, to space. The Jakob storyline is the picture's most interesting concept, a family betrayal narrative that gives Dom's arc a personal dimension the more generically spectacular entries did not always achieve. The space sequence is the entry's most significant failure, a demonstration of action escalation of such complete physical implausibility that it gave the franchise's most technically ambitious entry its most embarrassing moment. The Edinburgh sequence and the magnet truck chase are the film's most purely entertaining set-pieces, demonstrating that Lin retains his command of grounded action even when the surrounding material loses its footing.

Characters

Diesel's Dom is given the franchise's most personally revealing backstory material, a character whose estrangement from his brother gives the picture its most interesting dimension and whose eventual reconciliation gives it its most emotionally satisfying resolution. John Cena's Jakob Toretto is the film's most significant new character, a villain of physical capability and personal complexity whose identity as Dom's brother gives the franchise's central antagonist dynamic its most personally consequential expression. Cena plays the character with a physical authority and conviction that makes Jakob one of the franchise's more interesting villains despite the more contrived elements of his backstory. Sung Kang's Han is given his most significant return, a resurrection handled with enough conviction to feel like a credible development rather than merely a fan service gesture. Gibson's Roman and Ludacris's Tej are given their most purely comic material, including the space sequence that is the entry's most divisive moment.

Tone

Lin pitches the film at a register of spectacular excess and tonal inconsistency, giving it an entertainment ambition and a creative restlessness the more assured entries did not share. The picture is at its most rewarding in its more intimate family drama sequences, and at its least convincing when the space mission and the more generic action sequences take precedence over the more interesting character material.

Meaning / Themes

At its core, the film is about family and forgiveness, about Dom's estrangement from Jakob and his eventual willingness to extend to his brother the same loyalty and forgiveness that the franchise's central value demands. This is a genuinely interesting question that the film handles with enough intelligence to give the more spectacular elements a personal dimension they might otherwise have lacked.

Direction

Lin's direction is technically accomplished but uneven, with a command of the large-scale action sequences that gives the more grounded set-pieces a physical clarity and kinetic energy the franchise's finest entries achieved. The Edinburgh sequence and the magnet truck chase are the film's directorial highlights. The space sequence is its most significant misjudgement.

Cultural Reception

F9 received a mixed critical response on its release, with most reviewers identifying the space sequence as the entry's most significant failure and the Jakob storyline as its most interesting achievement. Commercial performance was strong despite the pandemic context of its release. It is now most frequently discussed as the entry that confirmed the franchise had reached the limits of its own escalation and as the film that made the case for Fast X's attempted creative recalibration.

Who Should Watch

Essential viewing for franchise completists and for those who want to understand Han's return and Jakob's introduction. General audiences will find intermittent entertainment in the family drama sequences and the more grounded action set-pieces.

Final Verdict: The franchise at its most self-consciously excessive. Cena's Jakob gives the film a compelling personal antagonist, Han's return is handled with enough conviction to feel earned, and Lin's direction gives the more grounded set-pieces a kinetic energy the franchise's finest entries achieved. F9 is an instructive and occasionally entertaining entry that confirmed the franchise had reached the limits of its own escalation.

The Fast and the Furious Series

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