I Watch Films: F9

F9

In repeats of previous movies in the franchise, a character from earlier in the series returns from the dead, and someone turns out to have a dangerous family member. Meanwhile fights, heists, stunts, races etc and also two characters are sent into space in a car.

Do you need to know more? Mr Nobody, the CIA handler who has recruited them for some of the previous escapades, has been shot down, people are trying to get hold of a machine that can hack any system. It’s in parts and additionally there’s a key. The bad guys have recruited Dominic Toretto’s younger brother Jacob, who is a full time spy rather than the dilettante that the Fast And Furious team are.

They fell out after their dad died in a racing crash, there was a misunderstanding about it, also Dom went to jail, leading him to his life of crime and eventually international super-spying.

The bad guys use magnets to catch cars and also to block signals; the crew get hold of a magnet rig and proceed to use throughout the back half of the film. The stunts are entertaining, though it seems as though they’ve reached a plateau, none of the setpieces or chases are significantly more interesting than anything in the admittedly high standard of the previous films. They manage to pare back the recurring cast a little, allowing a couple of characters small cameos, though I guess that’s to make space for the returning-from-the-dead and protegee and long lost brother.

Watch This: It’s still amusing, exciting and has a bit of heart
Don’t Watch This: It’s about rivalry and cars and fights and so what