BY HOLLYWOOD HERNANDEZ
Get ready for the summer blockbuster that Paramount Pictures hopes will be the action series to get us back into our local movie theater. ‘F9 The Fast Saga’ has already grossed over $250 Million worldwide and Paramount is banking on a huge opening weekend in this post-pandemic era. Technically F9 is the 10th Fast and Furious movie, if you consider the Dwayne Johnson and Jason Stratham movie, HOBBS AND SHAW. According to Box Office Mojo, the Furious series has grossed an estimated $1.6 billion combined. And already they are mapping out F&F 10 with talk of a spin-off movie starring Tyrese’s character Roman.
When the movie starts Dominic and Letty (Michelle Rodriquez), along with their young son, are living off the grid in a wooded, isolated location. Their tranquility comes to an end when the rest of the team travels out to the farm to enlist their help after Mr. Nobody’s (Kurt Russell) plane crashes in a heavily patrolled military outpost in an isolated area of Spain. Dominic refuses at first until his wife hops on a motorcycle and heads down the mountain to join the rest of the team at the rendezvous site; leaving Dom home alone to care for their young son.
In the morning Dom comes flying down the airfield runway in a muscle car to reluctantly join the rest of the team.
Watching the movie you have no idea who Dominic gets to take care of their son, since they live in such an isolated area, but that’s just one of the many things you have to suspend looking at using reality if you want to enjoy the movie. There are a lot of situations that are simply not possible in the universe we live in but strangely enough the team pulls them off anyway. (My favorite is the car that Tyrese and Ludacris strap rockets on and blast into outer space, but I digress.)
In F9 Dom’s chief nemesis is his younger brother Jakob, played by former WWE pro wrestler John Cena, who becomes a super spy after spending his entire life in the shadow of his older brother. He’s buffed up and Dom and the team have to thwart his, and his partner’s, plan to use a device to take over the whole world. Charlize Theron is also back as Cipher, the woman who’s also hellbent on world domination.
If you like action movies this one has something for everyone. There are plenty of hand to hand combat scenes between the two Toretto brothers, plenty of explosions and car chase scenes, as a matter of fact there is one scene with both when the Spanish Army chases the team in an explosive minefield. Flying cars, mountain jumping cars, a space rocket car and my favorite is a magnetic device the team installs in their cars that does all kinds of things that are scientifically impossible (remember the suspended reality part).
The whole cast is back in this 9th installment of the series. There’s some great humor between the characters played by Ludacris (Tej) and Tyrese (Roman) and a small role by Helen Mirren as Quennie. She’s a jewel thief who bumps into Dom on a caper at a fancy hotel and while in hot pursuit by the London Police she gives Dom a ride in a stolen car.
There is much to like about ‘F9 The Fast Saga’ but more than anything else I enjoyed the heavy theme of friendship and love of family. The movie does run a little bit long (2 hours and 25 minutes) and it’s rated PG-13. It is showing exclusively in theaters. On my “Hollywood Popcorn Scale” I rate ‘F9 The Fast Saga’ a JUMBO.
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