F9: The Fast Saga (2021) - Movie Review

F9 (also known as F9: The Fast Saga or Fast & Furious 9) is a 2021 American action film directed by Justin Lin, who co-wrote the screenplay with Daniel Casey.[7] The sequel to The Fate of the Furious (2017) and Tokyo Drift (2006), it is the ninth mainline installment and the tenth installment overall in the Fast & Furious franchise. It stars Vin Diesel as Dominic "Dom" Toretto, alongside Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, Chris "Ludacris" Bridges, John Cena, Nathalie Emmanuel, Jordana Brewster, Sung Kang, Michael Rooker, Helen Mirren, Kurt Russell, and Charlize Theron. In the film, Dom and his team aim to stop his estranged brother Jakob Toretto and his financier, Otto, from activating Project Aries, a dangerous advanced weapons program. With a ninth film planned since 2014, Lin was confirmed as director in October 2017, returning to the franchise since directing Fast & Furious 6 (2013). F9 is the first film in the franchise since 2 Fast 2 Furious (2003) to not be written by Chris Morgan. Dwayne Johnson, who appeared in the previous four films, was announced to return in April 2017, but confirmed his absence in January 2019. The rest of the cast was finalized with the addition of John Cena six months later. Brian Tyler returned to compose the score.[8] Principal photography began in June 2019 and lasted until that November, with filming locations including London, Edinburgh, Tbilisi, Los Angeles and Thailand. F9 was originally scheduled for release by Universal Pictures on April 19, 2019, but was delayed several times due to the release of the spin-off film Hobbs & Shaw (2019), the planned release of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's James Bond film No Time to Die (2021), and the COVID-19 pandemic.[9][10][11] It was first released in South Korea on May 19, 2021; and then released in the United States on June 25.[12] The film received mixed reviews from critics, with praise for the stunts, Lin's direction, action sequences and the performances of the cast, while it was criticized for its plot and revision of tropes. It set several pandemic box office records and grossed $726.2 million worldwide, becoming the fifth-highest-grossing film of 2021. It was followed by Fast X in 2023.