F9: The Fast Saga - 2/5

This movie is a tired retread of worn-out over-the-top melodrama. The action scenes are mindless fun, but the story is sub-par, even compared to other entries in the series. Surprisingly, driving a car to space is not the most unrealistic thing that happens in this movie, and the script goes out of its way to justify the logistics of it to the audience. What was more distracting to the story was the comic relief character’s meta commentary through-line about how none of the main characters in this franchise ever seem to get seriously injured.

Closest comparison: It’s the Fast and the Furious where they drive a car to space.

Setting: Action
Plot: Action
Tone: Action

Fate of the Furious - 3/5

This movie revels in its status as a dumb action flick, and doesn’t disappoint in delivering fun, vehicle-based, over-the-top action. And when it does deliver even moderate emotional payoff it hits much harder because it’s unexpected.

Closest comparison: It’s the next ratchet up in The Fast And The Furious series.

Setting: Super Hero
Plot: Espionage
Tone: Action

Fast 5 - 3/5

This movie is in some ways more of the same from this franchise, but ramped up to the next level. It has a bigger heist, more questionable physics, and a bigger guy (Dwayne Johnson) chasing the protagonists. The emphasis on family and low-level street crime has been mostly done away with in favor of high-tech missions and international stakes.

Closest comparison: It’s like Mission: impossible 3 by way of The Rundown.

Setting: Espionage Action
Plot: Espionage Action
Tone: Espionage Action

2 Fast 2 Furious (2003) - 3/5

This second installment in the “Fast and the Furious” series is more colorful than the first one, and trades its down-to-earth friend-circle-based drama for buddy-cop shenanigans. It’s a bit more lighthearted fun than the first and correspondingly over-the-top, introducing boats to the mix. On the whole, it’s basically more of the same, but that’s not entirely a bad thing.

Closest comparison: It’s like Lethal Weapon, but with cars.

Setting: Underground Crime
Plot: Buddy Cop
Tone: Action