Richard Reviews: F9 In Theaters Now

On a personal level the Fast and the Furious films have always had a special place in my heart. It was a true honor to be one of the first people to attend a screening of the latest Fast and Furious film. Walking into this film I went in with the expectation that this is no longer a racing film. The films have stepped away from it’s roots since about Fast Five and continue the trend to top each film from the previous one. This film welcomed director Justin Lin with open arms to direct this installment and you really start to feel this when all the characters come together. You really start to feel the bond between the Fast Family as the film progresses. New characters are introduced which cause a large story to be developed. As the film goes on I advise to keep your eyes open you might recognize some faces.

STORY: 8/10
In this film, the Fast Family unite again to take down their latest foe Dom’s brother. We are introduced to the new antagonist for the 9th installment of the Fast Saga with the character of Jakob Toretto. This allows the origin of the Toretto Family to be told. As the Fast Family work together once again to take down their latest enemy, you get to get to see many familiar faces resurface both good & bad. Fast & Furious has done it again! This film definitely went out of their way to top the previous by making the impossible possible. I believe what keeps the fans returning is the development that each character has.

ACTING: 8/10
Vin Diesel returns as the main protagonist of the film. Everything you love about the character of Dominic Toretto is shown by Vin Diesel. The largest change you see is at the start of the film when you see Dom’s role as a father. This was introduced in Fate of the Furious & the stakes from the previous film have impacted the way Dom now thinks. Tyrese continues as the comedy relief of the Fast Saga as Roman Pierce. One thing I did enjoy in this film was Roman’s way of thinking as he comes to a realization of the life he has been living. Ludacris and Nathalie Emmanuel show more chemistry in this film together but there is not much growth of their characters of Tej & Ramsey individually. Michelle Rodriguez keeps a strong structure to the character of Letty Ortiz-Toretto. I would love say there is something new she has brought to the table but we already know her as the strong female lead of this franchise. I do love how Letty continues to show her loyalty to Dom in this film. It is always fun to respectfully see strong women in film. Speaking of strong women in films, Jordana Brewster returns to the Fast films since Furious 7 as Mia Toretto and you definitely get to see her in action. She brings a balance to the Toretto name as the sweet one in the family but don’t be fooled she can definitely kick some ass. My personal favorite character to return to the franchise is Sung Kang’s character of Han. Han has definitely changed since the last time we saw him in Tokyo Drift / Fast & Furious 6. Although not much can be said as to why he is back, he has always been a fan favorite of the franchise. I do wish we could have seen more of him but I am unable to speak much on him as we do reach SPOILERS if I do so but it was good to see him on the big screen again. John Cena brings Jakob Toretto to the Fast Saga. I was able to separate the character from the actor but unfortunately as an antagonist he wasn’t the strongest. He does bring some interesting developments to the story but I would have preferred to see him as an ally than the villain for this film. I hope we get more development for some of the characters that appear within the film.

OVERALL: 7.5/10
Although I do love the Fast Saga, this was not their strongest film. They have stepped away from doing a lot of the stunts practically and involving a heavy amount of CGI. I feel that has been the case since Fast & Furious 6. As stated earlier these are no longer films about racing but have become heavy on trying to out do its previous film. I personally did not enjoy it’s “Meme Moment in the film” which is teased in the trailer. They do touch on the origin & I did enjoy seeing new actors portray characters we know and love. There is a scene that pays a tribute to someone we all love & respect in these films. I feel that the “JusticeForHan” movement still needs to be touched on but stick around for the post credits they might be elaborating on that.

As it has been confirmed by Vin Diesel they are working on closing this book we call Fast & Furious I am hopeful they go back to racing again that was one of my favorite parts of this film.

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