F9: The Fast Saga is an action movie, the latest installment of the Fast & Furious franchise. Dom(Vin Diesel) and Letty(Michelle Rodriguez) have retired with their son Brian to a remote homestead. As they itch for action they are drawn back into 'the life' when the team receives an SOS from Mr. Nobody's downed plan. They investigate and discover that Dom's estranged brother Jakob(John Cena) is working with an evil rich guy to steal a McGuffin to take over the world. As the story progresses there a flashbacks that show how Dom and Jakob fell out.
At this point the cast is exceedingly deep and for the most part all understand what kind of franchise they're in. Of all Diesel is the master, pairing a kind of unflappable reserve with an almost saccharine sincerity, it doesn't provide a space for much depth or nuance of character but it works. Cena is not so much outclassed as he is perhaps not aware of what kind of movie he's in. His angle seems to be bad ass stoicism which doesn't really read in the F&F universe, as the heavy he is pretty flat and boring, and he's not given any opportunity to deploy his comedic chops.
Overlong with uneven pacing there are some great action set pieces and the flashbacks to young Dom and young Jakob are inspired, makes you wish they had their own movie, but the net result is a middling entry in the series and a just north of boring blockbuster. The movie has already grossed enough to warrant F10 but here's hoping they mix up the formula and shed some of the truly gargantuan backstory that has come to inhibit the cars-doing-crazy-stuff action sequences which made the series fun in the first place.
Currently in theaters.
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