Y'all. I absolutely love the Fast & Furious movie collection, so when I got the opportunity to screen the newest installation, "F9: The Fast Saga," it was a "HELL YEAH!"
Disclaimer: Now, I'm not a review writer, so you're gonna get the mofo way of explaining things.
I had no idea what was in store, first I had to get over my germaphobia anxiety about going into a theater again, but realized as long as I have my disinfectant wipes, hand sanitizer, and mask--I'm good to go. Besides, when you first view a F&F film--it HAS to be in a theater. You want that experience of feeling like you are in the car or on standby ready to throw blows and fight bad guys with Letty, Dom, Roman, and the crew.
I didn't read the film description or anything--had only seen the trailer, but I knew one thing, this franchise never disappoints, so I was ready to be thrilled.
This movie kept me on the edge of my seat, and peeking behind my fingers lawd jeezus. But let me give you the synopsis real quick. Dom Toretto (Vin Disel) is drinking his water and minding his own business living quietly off the grid with his bae Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) and his son. (If you are asking me what son?!!! Then I'm gonna need you to refer to "The Fate of the Furious" film--that's number 8). Anyhoo, as you know it's probably mercury retrograde swooping in to disrupt things, but Dom is forced to confront his demons as he and his crew come together to stop a plot for world domination by the most skilled assassin and high-performance driver they have ever encountered which turns out to be Dom's triflin--errrr hard headed little brother Jakob (John Cena) and his sidekick wannabe dictator Otto (Thue Ersted Rasmussen).
Directed by Justin Lin, the film still has old teammates Tej (Ludacris), Roman (Tyrese), as well as tech expert Ramsey (Nathalie Emmanuel). Throw in the notorious hacker Cipher (Charlize Theron again from "The Fate of the Furious" and lemme add here--her short hairdo is super cute).
Side note: Tyrese really has the best comedic timing whether he's trying to be funny or not. I do love him as an actor. Full stop.
Check out the trailer here:
Back to the review, with the addition of Jakob--I love that we finally get to see more of how the Toretto's got to be who they are. We find out more about their family history and learn more about the tragedy that tore them apart. Many characters from past films show up, including Bow Wow's character Twinkie. The film has several themes that stood out to me-- healing, second chances, forgiveness, reuniting, and of course family.
Cardi B makes an appearance as well, I'm still wondering the purpose since it wasn't but a hot second but it was still great to see her. I love her energy! I would be curious to see if she makes another appearance in a future film.
I couldn't help but notice that I actually missed The Rock yelling and screaming, but Cena's character although introduced like a soap opera script, since no one knew Dom & Mia had a brother, works. While the siblings look absolutely nothing alike, there are hints in the script as to their lineage.
There's a lot of fast cars, explosions--lots of explosions, fights, and magnets. I'm not even going to explain that one, you'll have to see it for yourself. Now, there are some things in this movie that are a little unbelievable and will have you questioning everything:
In the words of the great Jem & The Holograms-- this film is "truly, truly, truly, outrageous" with it's action packed sequences. It's a great escape from reality for 145 minutes. Put your seatbelt on and you might need to pack a helmet, because you're gonna feel like you are in the passenger seat with Dom n'em.
"F9" is in theaters only on June 25.
Let me know if you go see it and what you thought!
~Meik
