Dom Toretto is living the quiet life off the grid with Letty and his son, but they know that danger always lurks just over the peaceful horizon. This time, that threat forces Dom to confront the sins of his past to save those he loves most. His crew soon comes together to stop a world-shattering plot by the most skilled assassin and high-performance driver they've ever encountered -- Dom's forsaken brother.
It’s no secret that the Fast and Furious ethos is not what it once was, street racing in Japanese cars is something of the past, and many people may argue that the series has taken a sharp turn recently, with the series steering away from the great roots it thrives on. I’m definitely in this audience of people, like many other people the original films made me fall in love with the series, and cars. At first, the inclusion of John Cena may not indicate that the film remembers its past, and that it continues to maintain an ‘action’ ethos, however the film definitely surprised me, both during and after the watch. So the main question - does this film warrant your time and money to watch? Here are my thoughts.
As usual, I will start with what I liked about the films plot and storyline, one of my favourite parts of the film is actually the way in which the storyline was relayed to us in a manner that felt exciting and fast paced (as we have come to expect), but not too much - the film managed to manage its pacing really well through the inclusion of arguably my favourite element of the film, the flashbacks. These took up ~20 minutes of the entire film, however despite having a small segment scattered throughout the film, in my opinion they are what held the film together and kept it feeling energised, exciting and insightful.
Films similar to this may encounter issues when appealing to both old and new fans, however what is interesting here is that the usage of flashbacks to the past of many key characters to the series, such as Han and Dom Toretto provide genuinely exciting and useful additions to both the film, and the entirety of the film. They also help to provide valuable details about the characters which helps to keep the film feeling solid and excitable. It also gives us what many Fast and Furious fans may yearn for, old style street racing, and whilst it isn't a major part of the film, these are key parts of the film for me, and arguably the best as they give old fans of the series what we missed.
I also feel that in general terms, the storyline of the film was both exciting and easy to follow, but an element of complication helped to give the film a series of twists and turns that helped to keep us on our toes - now, you don't necessarily watch Fast and Furious for the acting and storylines. You watch it for the action and this film has plenty of action with car chases, explosions, crashes and all around excitement which is the nook and cranny of every Fast and Furious film and this one gives you plenty of an adrenaline to rush as a viewer. As part of the film's detailed plot to stop 'Cipher' and Dom's brother 'Jakob', it does a lot of travelling and that is conveyed well to us, sure it does the typical action film theme where characters go on a trail of locations to find parts of the 'puzzle', but here each of those locations provide radically different cars, which help to give individual scenes a unique feeling to them, the streets of Edinburgh have the characters chasing a Jaguar XE SV and the Mexican jungle has them driving a Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat across a minefield - it's all very much over the top but I think that is what gives the film a unique feeling.
The story is also easy to follow, and where it may not be similar to that of something like Tokyo Drift with a pure focus on racing, it has its own unique spin that it uses to help keep everything connected together, both in terms of this film and how it sits in the series. Like I mentioned though, this film is over the top and I think it knows it, but that's part of the point - whether you're happy to see the series move in this direction or not, it's here to stay and I think that it embraces this theme nicely. This is also complemented by its fast paced and quick-changing nature, nothing is ever simple and straightforward here, and the inclusions of twists and turns help to keep the film feeling fresh.
In terms of the characters, I was impressed more than I thought I would be, not only did the characters feel genuine, but seeing old connections made to Tokyo Drift was also really good and appreciated - seeing Han, Sean, Twinkie and Morimoto returning in updated cameos was exciting, and helped to answer some important questions that have been left hanging for nearly 15 years. From this film though, there isn't a massive amount to say as to the characters, many of them return from previous Fast films so we have come to know them well, and who they are - but as mentioned, the inclusion of flashbacks do provide a genuinely interesting insight into a key character in the series' history - Dom Toretto and his past. This link that the film makes between older films helps to expand it as to more than just a standalone film, it answers questions from previous films, it gives us fresh insights into characters we know very well and it does this in the way we have come to expect from the series.
However, the addition of new characters (and return of Cipher) do provide a somewhat positive cameo, they don't get a massive portion of story time expect for Jakob, and it feels like this balance is a positive one, because the film doesn't try too hard to villainy the 'bad guy', because it focuses more on Dominic Toretto and 'the crew'. The inclusion of Jakob though is made much more effective through the previously mentioned flashbacks, whilst these aren't too lengthy, it gives us a good insight into the relationship he has with Dom and as to why he has developed into the character we see now. Characters also tell periodic jokes and have a good sense of banter between each other which cannot be taken seriously, but it isn't meant to, characters mock each others sense of humour and that's just how it has been throughout the series - whilst they aren't necessarily 'laugh out loud' jokes, they do help give the characters a sense of consistency across the series and portray the good relationship they have between them.
I think that it is also worth noting the inclusion of Brian's cameo too, the film does this quite nicely in terms of how it deals with Paul Walker's death whilst helping to keep both his character and personality alive - through simple things like mentioning how he is looking after the children, and how his Skyline R34 pulls up to the infamous house at the end, ready for another one of the film's Corona fuelled meet-ups!
Prior to writing this review, I wanted to grasp the general censuses of opinions that people have on the film, and the progress of the series, and unsurprisingly it was a negative one. I can completely understand the frustrations fans have as to a lack of street racing and aspects that made the original few films so great, alongside arguments of 'milking' the series. I think it's difficult, because whilst the original films were some of my all time favourites, I think it's important to understand that the series has massively evolved into a more 'action heavy' series, with a smaller focus on racing, and whilst it is a shame, I think the hate that the series gets because of this isn't entirely warranted, after 10 films (1 of which being a spinoff), the series has naturally evolved and strayed from its roots. But this isn't new, it has been straying away for arguably ~10 years and I think to compare the film to originals in the series isn't entirely justified for me.
However, the film wasn't perfect, and many of the points made above do creep in and impact the overall watching experience of the film. It would be easy to say that there isn't much of a racing element to the film, but my biggest issue with the film is some of the character roster. There was a lot of publicity regarding Cardi B's involvement in the film, and whilst it was only for 2 minutes, it left me glad that she didn't have a bigger involvement, I know she's not an actor but her scene was plain awful and left A LOT to be desired, it was borderline painful watching her talking and acting and left a bad taste in the mouth of the audience. I was also a little disappointed by Cipher, whilst she was introduced to audiences in 2017's The Fate of the Furious, it's been 4 years since then, so many fans may have forgotten key parts about her, and new fans may not know her at all - the lack of a proper introduction was dissappointing and left her feeling empty and unutilised to the film. A definite waste of potential there.
I would also say that whilst the film does a lot of impossible and crazy stunts, the FF series has been about impossible and ludicrous car stunts for quite some time - but the issue is that for new audiences, this just doesn't sit right and the ludicrous nature of sending a car to space, electromagnets in cars and borderline indestructible trucks will definitely not be what keeps new fans coming back, for fans that have come to expect this (since ~Fast 5) then it is something we are used to, but for others that have a genuine car interest, the film doesn't focus on this as much as it should - and I think that this leaves it feeling as though it is more of an action than a car film, crossing a dangerous line.
Unfortunately, the knowledge and passion for cars is also something the film seems to have been missing slightly, I was left wanting more cars and some more slightly unique ones too, but all of the cars involved were mainly straightforward and commonly known about which was a shame.
Overall though, I would give this film a 7.5. It was decent, and had a lot to like about it from a story perspective, it adds a genuinely interesting back story to some of the characters and also gives us a fresh insight into some of the newer ones too. Whilst slightly over the top, I feel that the films plot manages its excitement and relaying capabilities well - resulting in a story that feels exciting. I do however understand that whilst the series has taken a shift in recent years, the adoption of less cars than usual, the inclusion of Cardi B and the focus on action over cars is where the film finds its downfall. Despite taking a new journey, forgetting your roots is extremely dangerous, and leaves the series on a note of uncertainty as to where they will take it, and when they will call it a day.
Thank you for reading my review, I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I did watching the film and writing this review, I hope you have a lovely day! If you would like to check out my Official Facebook page where you can see sneak previous and more film insights then please consider checking out the link below!
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