Two things can be true. A movie can be too dumb to love but also too fun to hate. That's how I feel about most of the Fast & Furious movies. Even the 'good' ones are pretty irredeemably ridiculous. This new one had the audience I saw it with cracking up, and it definitely wasn't because the movie was being intentionally funny.
While The Rock and Jason Statham seem to be at least somewhat in on the joke of what these movies are -- which is why Hobbs & Shaw was so much fun -- Vin Diesel definitely isn't. He long ago eschewed much of an ability to even emote like a normal human being and the franchise is constructed to seemingly make him seem like a God-like indestructible force of nature.
And yet, with all its eye-roll inducing moments -- F9: The Fast Saga -- is pretty fun from start to finish.
For every leaden dramatic scene or absurd exchange of dialogue (Charlize Theron, who inexplicably is being held captive in some kind of cube where her make-up and clothes are impeccable delivers a speech packed with Star Wars references which is laugh out of loud hilariously bad) there's an inventive, fast-paced really well-rendered action scene that will make you guffaw with joy.
A lot of the credit goes to Justin Lin, who has directed several of the stronger entries of the series and mostly keeps things moving fast enough that you don't have to dwell with the insanity of what's happening on screen.
Even more than the previous entries, this one feels the most like a Marvel movie. They go into space. They are chasing some glowing thing-a-ma-jig that apparently can end the world as we know it. It's a victory lap movie and a getting the gang back together movie. We get flashbacks of a 'young' Dom (so how old are we to accept the fiftysomething Diesel is in this film?) and an elaborate backstory to his relationship with his brother played by a miscast John Cena attempting to out-wooden Diesel as an actor.
I kept being begrudgingly impressed by the sheer hubris of this franchise -- it dares you to laugh at its absurdity while kicking its stupidity up another notch. It's not just silliness of its coincidences of the gargantuan stakes it sets up and tries to deliver on, it's audacity to keep pushing the envelope without any real character development or realism whatsoever.
At this point Diesel's cinematic family are essentially indestructible superheroes -- there's even a running beat where Tyrese claims that team is incapable of being hurt in action that kind of comes to nothing, sort of like the movie.
Nothing changes. Everyone remains a 'family,' bad guys suddenly turn and become part of a team and there will be a sequel. Will this 10th one be the last one? Not if this one makes as much money and its predecessors. Clearly the fans are willing to go anywhere this franchise goes.
And I guess I will too. I can't wholeheartedly endorse these movies -- they're like a sugar rush that leaves you with a stomach ache afterwards. They blend together for me and with a few exceptions they become instantly forgettable.
I suppose this one is destined to be remembered as the 'magnets' one -- it uses them to great effect repeatedly -- but it also seems to have established a new benchmark for what this series can creatively do, especially since character development and plot has never been this series' strong suit.
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