F9: Is this Really The Final Saga for “Fast and Furious”?

The early excitement for “The Fast and the Furious” has worn off for the majority of moviegoers. But five key lessons learned from the film still resonate with audiences: discipline is learned from failure, teamwork is paramount, ambition is won from humble self-belief, family is forever, and never give up on your dreams. The Fast and the Furious stands as an icon of American automotive culture. It is a film that successfully combines gun violence with car chases and exotic locations, all set to a soundtrack that evokes the excitement of speed and crash. But is F9 really the Final Saga?

The film opens with Dom Toretto (Vin Diesel) enjoying retirement with his son, Brian (named for the late Paul Walker's “Fast” character) and wife Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) in a country off road location. Some of the old crew arrive to share a distorted message from Mr. Nobody (Kurt Russell)  that a plane carrying notorious hacker Cipher (Charlize Theron, “The Fate of the Furious”) went down in Central America and their help is needed.

With the crew in place, the journey takes a turn and we get a glimpse of Dom Toretto growing up. We learn about his father and are introduced to his brother, Jakob (John Cena) and the tragedy that broke them apart.

The movie takes you on a thrill ride where previous cast members unite from other “Fast and Furious” films to work together for a common goal. The realization that Han Lue (Sung Kang) is in fact alive but has been safely hiding in Tokyo with a female ninja, Elle (Anna Sawai) who holds the key to it all.

The excitement and adventure continues to build until Roman (Tyrese Gibson) starts having conversations about being invincible., superhuman. He is trying to understand why they never get hurt or have scratches at the very least from all the crazy adventures At first you want to laugh and ponder with him until you think back to some of the outburst that continue to haunt Tyrese and wonder if this was intended satire. Somehow they convince Tej (Chris “Ludacris” Bridges) to join the mockery. He and Roman, “drive” a Pontiac Fiero with a rocket strapped to it into outer space while cracking jokes and eating tootsie rolls to disable a satellite. It becomes silly and annoying at this point especially when you have no idea if they make it out.

The film The Fast and the Furious has been popular since its release in 2001, maintaining its popularity for a decade. Although some of the popularity has worn off since then (due to the fact that two poorly received sequels were released during that time), many lessons of The Fast and the Furious remain as true today as they did in 2001. Many expected it to end after the fatal crash of Paul Walker. While “no matter how fast you are, no one outruns their past” but I think the Fast and Furious franchise has run its course.

Film opens in theaters, Friday, June 25th

Rated PG-13
143 Mins

I rate the movie 4 out of 5 pumps. I loved the action and definitely some of the fashion.

TomikaTalks

Genre: Action Thriller
Cast: Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, John Cena, Nathalie Emmanuel, Jordana Brewster, Sung Kang, with Helen Mirren, with Kurt Russell, and Charlize Theron
Directedby: Justin Lin
Based on Characters Created By: Gary Scott Thompson
Story by: Justin Lin & Alfredo Botello and Daniel Casey
Screenplay by: Daniel Casey & Justin Lin
Producers: Neal H. Moritz, Vin Diesel, Justin Lin, Jeff Kirschenbaum, Joe Roth, Clayton Townsend, Samantha Vincent