F9 wants to be the biggest movie in the Fast & Furious franchise, and for about two hours it mostly gets there. Then the back half happens, and the movie starts reaching for a scale that even its own characters can’t quite believe. The result is a film that knows how to blow things up but isn’t sure what to do with its plot in between.
The premise is simple enough: Dom (Vin Diesel) and Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) are married and expecting a baby. That news sends Dom into a protective spiral, and soon he’s chasing a shadowy figure named Jakob (John Cena) across Europe and South America. Along the way, he drags Mia (Jordana Brewster) back into the fold, hires Cipher (Ronda Rousey) to track down Jakob, and pulls in the rest of the crew for one last wild ride. The setup is classic Fast & Furious boilerplate, and for a while the film plays like a competent, if predictable, entry in the series.
Then the script decides to shake things up.
Trailer, via The Fast Saga.
Dom’s New Fatherhood
Dom’s arc is the emotional core of F9, and it’s the one thing the film handles with genuine care. His fear for Letty and the unborn child drives him to extremes, and the film leans into that anxiety without making it a joke. The scenes between Dom and Letty are quiet, intimate, and surprisingly tender for a franchise that usually treats domestic life as a side note.
Vin Diesel sells this material with a restrained intensity that’s rare in his work. He’s not hamming it up; he’s playing a man who has lost everything and found it again in one small person. Michelle Rodriguez matches him beat for beat, and their chemistry carries scenes that could easily sink under the weight of the plot.
The problem is that the film doesn’t know what to do with this tenderness once the action kicks in. Dom spends the first hour building walls around himself, and then spends the second hour tearing them down in increasingly absurd ways. The shift feels abrupt, and it leaves the audience unsure whether they’re meant to laugh or cry.
Jakob and the Family Split
Jakob is the villain of the piece, and John Cena brings a physicality to the role that the script doesn’t fully earn. He’s a younger version of Dom, raised by the same father who abandoned him, and the film tries to make their rivalry feel personal. It doesn’t quite land.
Cena is game, but the character is written as a blank slate of rage and betrayal. He’s not given much beyond his anger, and his motivations are thin enough that his final act of redemption feels more like a plot convenience than a character arc. The family dynamic between Dom, Jakob, and their father is the film’s best idea, and it’s also the one that gets buried under explosions.
The supporting cast fares better. Jordana Brewster returns as Mia, and her scenes with Dom carry a weight that the rest of the film struggles to match. Ronda Rousey shows up as Cipher, and she brings a cold efficiency that cuts through the chaos. The rest of the crew—Tej (Chris “Ludacris” Bridges), Roman (Tyrese Gibson), and Han (Sung Kang)—get their moments, but they’re mostly there to fill space between set pieces.
Cipher’s Return
Cipher’s presence is a strange one. She’s a former ally turned enemy, and her return is meant to complicate Dom’s world. The film leans on her as a bridge to the action, but her character is underwritten. She’s smart, she’s dangerous, and she’s clearly working against Dom—but why she’s doing it is never made entirely clear.
The ambiguity works for a while, but it collapses when the film decides to resolve her storyline with a twist that feels more like a cop-out than a payoff. Her arc is the clearest example of the film’s central problem: it sets up questions it doesn’t have the patience to answer.
The Action and Its Limits
The action in F9 is the reason anyone comes to see it, and it’s the strongest element of the film. The car chases are fast, the stunts are big, and the editing is sharp. There’s a sequence involving a helicopter and a convoy that’s genuinely thrilling, and a later chase through the streets of Rio de Janeiro that’s equally impressive.
But the action is also the place where the film’s excess becomes most visible. There are too many shots, too many angles, and too much noise. The film seems to think that bigger is always better, and it loses sight of the fact that clarity is more important than spectacle.
The finale is the worst offender. It involves a massive vehicle collision that’s meant to be a reset button for the franchise, and it’s rendered in slow motion with a score that swells to unbearable levels. The moment is supposed to be cathartic, but it feels more like exhaustion.
The Back Half’s Collapse
The back half of F9 is where the film falls apart. The plot gets steadily more convoluted, and the stakes keep getting higher until they reach a point where they stop making sense. Characters die, cities get destroyed, and the body count climbs without any real point.
The film is at its best when it’s focused on Dom and Letty, and at its worst when it’s trying to be a global disaster movie. The two impulses are incompatible, and the film can’t hold them both together for very long.
The pacing suffers as a result. The first hour moves at a steady clip, but the second hour slows to a crawl as the film keeps adding new threads and new villains. By the end, the audience is left with a movie that looks great but doesn’t really add up to anything.
The Cast’s Range
Vin Diesel remains the engine of the franchise, and he delivers a performance that’s more controlled than usual. Michelle Rodriguez is excellent opposite him, and the two of them anchor the film’s quieter stretches. John Cena is a wild card, and his commitment to the role is undeniable, even if the writing lets him down.
Jordana Brewster brings a grounded warmth to Mia, and her scenes with Dom are the emotional highlight of the film. Ronda Rousey is a presence, but her character’s arc is underdeveloped. Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, Tyrese Gibson, and Sung Kang round out the ensemble with their usual charisma, but they’re mostly relegated to comic relief.
| Character | Role | Strengths | Weaknesses |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dom | Lead | Strong emotional core, controlled performance | Arc shifts abruptly, loses focus |
| Jakob | Villain | Physical presence, compelling backstory | Thin motivations, underwritten |
| Cipher | Ally-turned-enemy | Smart, efficient | Underdeveloped, unresolved |
| Mia | Supporting lead | Grounded, warm | Limited screen time |
| Letty | Supporting lead | Chemistry with Dom, protective arc | Screen time cut short |
What Works and What Doesn’t
The film’s strengths are its emotional core and its action. The weaknesses are its plotting and its pacing. It’s a film that knows how to stage a stunt but doesn’t always know what to do with the people in the middle of it.
The comparison between the two is instructive. The action sequences are the reason audiences come back, and they’re delivered with confidence. The plot is where the film stumbles, and it stumbles badly enough that the whole enterprise starts to feel hollow.
| Element | Rating |
|---|---|
| Acting | 6/10 |
| Plot | 4/10 |
| Action | 8/10 |
| Pace | 5/10 |
| Overall | 5.8/10 |
F9 is a film that wants to be remembered for its action and its heart, but it can’t quite manage both. The action is memorable, but the heart is scattered. The performances are strong, but the script is weak. The film is a mixed bag, and it’s a mixed bag that’s best enjoyed in small doses.
It’s not a bad movie, exactly, but it’s not a good one either. It’s a film that knows how to entertain but doesn’t always know how to engage. It’s a film that’s fun to watch but forgettable afterward.
The final score for F9 is 5.8 out of 10.
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