Justice for Family, Even if it Took 9 Movies to Reveal a Member
Dom, Letty and baby Brian are now living a quiet life in seclusion, but when news of an attack that involves Dom’s brother, they’re almost instantly thrown back into the action. The crew bands together to try to stop his brother’s employers from launching a program that can hack weapons around the world. To do this, they’ll need a few things: cars, magnets, rockets, and of course, family.
The family is back, after splitting a bit with the spinoff, Hobbs and Shaw, and the world is in danger again. Time for the ragtag team of street racers to save the day again. Followers of the series should already be aware that they are pretty much super-powered in some way at this point. And let’s also ignore that some former students in Tokyo are all of a sudden rocket scientists. This sets the stage for tons of nonsense, good or not.
***Warning: Spoilers***
After years of outcry from fans, Han has been willed into existence. On one hand, it’s nice to see that he’s back, but on the other, is #justiceforhan a nullified movement now? Seeing his “killer” hang out with the family called for the movement in the first place, but now that that was retconned, are we all still supposed to be mad? With that aside, Sung Kang made a pretty cool entrance. Apart from that, he had some dramatic beats, but mostly ended up being a clumsy character, possibly to cover up for the actor's older age.
With Dwayne Johnson out, naturally another wrestler has to fill that void. Prior to watching, I was not buying that John Cena was to portray Dom’s brother, but it ended up working. Someone has to match Dom’s apparent superhuman abilities, and what better than the breakout star power of Cena. Watching a massive wrestler throw people around is always a joy. He had a little bit of an arc, but nothing to write home about. Cena is starting to put range into his characters with this role, being both bad and then good in the same movie.
Magnets, how do they work? Aside from them going into space, which was revealed in the trailers, magnets are the big gimmick this time around. One thing that I didn’t believe for a second was that no bystander could have possibly gone unscathed with magnets around. Also pulling cars from the other side of buildings seemed far fetched. It’s not their best gimmick, but what can you do, 9 films in.
The plot is starting to blend in with other films in the franchise. There was previously a film that revolved around having the ability to do something on a global level and that carries on here. Instead of tracking anyone in the world, the bad guys can hack any computer instead. To achieve this goal, you need two stylish computer keys and the DNA of the creators, all in the likes of a video game quest. Although Charlize Theron’s Cipher is back, she’s barely in it, a movie about hacking. Almost a meme at this point, it was quite a jump to go from stealing VHS players, to copious amounts of cash, then to world-saving super agents. The main problem of the movie takes a backseat to the dynamics of Dom’s family problems.
At this point, the movies are feeling too drawn out, making it feel like they’re running out of ideas. A couple of plots and ideas fell short to expand this family, via pulling blood members out of a hat. At the end of the day, this is a popcorn flick, filled with super powered cast members and far from possible car stunts. With as far as I’m in, I’m sort of interested in seeing how it ends, but I’ll be cautiously optimistic and probably wait for a discount screening or home release.