"F9" a grinningly stupid good time at the movies

F9 (2021)

The further the “Fast and the Furious” franchise goes over the top and the smaller the “Vibe” magazine article source about underground street racing that inspired the 2001 original appears in the rearview mirror, the better. “F9”—not counting 2019’s spinoff “Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw”—is the ninth installment in the hugely successful racing/heist/spy/superhero franchise, one that persists as steadily as Vin Diesel’s bis and tris. This increasingly absurd saga shows signs of slowing down, but one can’t wait to see it jump all of the sharks when Dom Toretto and the fam are having wheelchair races and pulling off food heists from their nursing home cafeteria. For now, “F9” offers everything the fans crave. Bringing director Justin Lin (who was behind movies 3-6) back into the driver’s seat, number nine is gleefully well-endowed with insanely physics-defying action stunts, dramatic soap-opera reveals, more globe-trotting than you can shake a passport at, and the obligatory grace-saying backyard barbecue.

Series lifer Vin Diesel will forever feel at home in Dom Toretto, who now lives in peace and quiet with his wife Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) and his young son, Brian (Isaac and Immanuel Holdane). Their country life gets interrupted when old friends Roman (Tyrese Gibson), Tej (Chris ‘Ludacris’ Bridges), and hacker Ramsey (Nathalie Emmanuel) show up, having recovered a distress signal from intelligence agent Mr. Nobody (Kurt Russell), who has captured cyber terrorist Cipher (Charlize Theron) but then attacked by rogue agents. When the gang goes to the plane crash site in Montequinto, they find a device called Aries, which can infiltrate any computer weapons system. But first, the team—soon joined by Dom’s sister, Mia (Jordana Brewster), because family—will have to split up in Tokyo and London in search of the “keys” to open this doomsday thingamabob. Basically, the world-domination plot is just a framework for a lot of crazy derring-do, all pointing to the common denominator: Dom and Mia’s long-lost brother, Jakob (John Cena), an expert driver and assassin. 

Since this series has always held family so high, that “F” in “F9” most likely stands for “fast” or “furious,” but it could also be Dom’s favorite “F” word. Peppered with 1989 flashbacks (hence the opening ‘90s Universal Pictures logo), the film fills us in on the Toretto bloodline and Dom’s past. Dom (thankfully played by Vinnie Bennett rather than a de-aged Diesel) had a younger brother, the resentful Jakob (Finn Cole), and they both were part of their racer father’s pit crew before Dad died in his last race. Director Justin Lin really does put together a family reunion, even if that means reversing the death of a supporting fan-favorite character (no, it’s not Giselle) and pretending that Brian (the late Paul Walker) is still alive and just retired and living the safe family life. At this rate, it does feel like there should be a quiz at the end of each movie to make sure everyone remembers who is who and why they matter. Most of it is just shameless fan service for character recognition, but that’s not such a bad thing here.

As if this series were competing with Marvel, “F9” tries to keep upping the ante with thrilling abandon. There’s an impossible vehicular jump across a rickety rope bridge, and Ramsey's first time behind the wheel happens to be in a delivery truck containing an electromagnet that causes a ton of destruction in the streets of Edinburgh. It was only a matter of time before this series went into space, and here we are, at least not until around the two-hour mark. It’s a hoot just the same when the film keeps cutting back to Where No Team Member of Dom's Has Gone Before in a souped-up, DeLorean-like Pontiac Fiero with a rocket engine attached. “How in the hell are you not dead?” asks a dumbfounded Tej after Roman has just evaded death having driven over a field of numerous landmines and then almost being crushed by a military vehicle. We all wonder the same thing, and it’s this knowing sense of humor (and Roman’s waxing philosophical about their invincibility) that keeps this particular entry light on its feet. This might even be the first time one of these characters has experienced such an out-of-body, seeing-the-light moment after defying death once again. 

If one didn't care about these petty thieves-turned-international criminal characters before, then there’s probably no luck now, but there is pleasure in watching Michelle Rodriguez and Jordana Brewster getting some actual sister-in-law time and the chance to kick ass together. Continually proving to be the biggest personalities to these movies, Tyrese Gibson and Chris ‘Ludacris’ Bridges keep their banter freshly funny and zippy as number-guy Tej and candy-snacking Roman, and Nathalie Emmanuel is completely charming as Ramsey, a brainy stunner with no interest in dating either Tej or Roman. Dame Helen Mirren pops by to steal an emerald necklace, outrun Interpol in a getaway car with Dom riding shotgun, and deliver a few tart one-liners as Shaw’s mother Queenie. Charlize Theron’s part as Cipher still feels untapped of its potential, but for the extent that Theron gets to look stylish (despite a bad mushroom cut) and whispers evil nothings inside a glass Hannibal Lecter box, she’s making the most of it. Finally, the presence of John Cena is always welcome, even when an “F&F” movie wastes the superstar’s charisma and makes his villain forever stew without a smile as if his favorite gym just closed. 

There are legitimate, on-the-way-back-to-your-car questions that do get left dangling—Where is Mr. Nobody? Even with Paul Walker no longer with us, why is Brian still alive and said to be babysitting while his family is off trotting the globe?—and some of the fight choreography does regrettably get lost in sloppy, overly kinetic camerawork and choppy edits. But, above all, director Justin Lin knows what matters for this kind of wind-in-your-hair summer tentpole. Despite taking on so much (from a script Lin co-wrote with Daniel Casey) to fill an expectedly overblown 145 minutes, the bat-out-of-hell pacing rarely stalls, and in true “F&F” fashion, the turned-up action is lively, ridiculous and ridiculously entertaining, putting a hat on a hat on a hat. The implausibilities even extend to bringing back characters we thought were gone for good. While “F9” still definitely doesn’t top the next-level “Furious 7,” park that brain at the door and you’ll have a grinningly stupid good time at the movies.

Grade: B 

Universal Pictures released “F9” (145 min.) in theaters on June 25, 2021.