Movie · 2021 · Action, Adventure, Crime · 2h 23m · PG-13 · English
Curator score: 0.8/10 (506.3K ratings)
Not all blood is family.
Overview
Dominic Toretto and his crew battle the most skilled assassin and high-performance driver they've ever encountered: his forsaken brother.
Ratings
Curator score: 0.8/10
IMDb: 5.2/10
Letterboxd: 2.38/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 59%
Metacritic: 58
TMDB: 7.0/10
Director
Justin Lin
Production
Original Film, One Race, Perfect Storm Entertainment, Universal Pictures, Roth-Kirschenbaum Films
Cast
Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, Ludacris, John Cena, Nathalie Emmanuel, Jordana Brewster, Sung Kang, Michael Rooker, Helen Mirren, Kurt Russell, Charlize Theron, Finn Cole, Thue Ersted Rasmussen, Anna Sawai, Lucas Black, Shad Moss, Don Omar, Shea Whigham, Vinnie Bennett
Curator Review
Verdict
A maximalist, self-aware action sequel that turns absurdity into a feature, not a bug. If you enjoy the franchise’s escalating stunts, family melodrama, and comic-book logic, it’s a blast; if you want coherent stakes or grounded car action, it’s a hard pass.
Best for
fans of big, unserious blockbuster spectacle
viewers who enjoy franchise continuity and inside jokes
people who like action movies that escalate into pure cartoon physics
audiences amused by campy melodrama and self-parody
Skip if
you want tight plotting or emotional realism
you dislike franchise bloat and retcon-heavy storytelling
you prefer practical, street-level car action over sci-fi absurdity
you’re already tired of the series’ family-first formula
Overview
F9 is the point where the franchise fully embraces its own mythology as a kind of loud, chrome-plated soap opera. The movie is less interested in logic than in momentum, turning every reveal, reunion, and fight into another excuse to top the last one. That makes it frustrating if you want discipline, but oddly liberating if you’re on its wavelength.
Worth noting
The action is bigger, sillier, and more openly cartoonish than ever, with set pieces that feel designed to be laughed at, gasped at, and quoted later. The emotional material is pure series shorthand: family trauma, sibling rivalry, and the ongoing insistence that loyalty is a superpower. It’s not subtle, but it knows exactly what it is.
Bottom line
For longtime fans, the appeal is in the escalation and the communal absurdity. For everyone else, it may feel like a movie that has mistaken excess for excitement. Still, even when it’s ridiculous, it’s rarely boring, and that’s a kind of competence all its own.
Top Letterboxd reviews
Patrick Willems (4★) · 4490 likes
There’s a moment where Roman jokingly suggests the most insane idea brought up in this entire 10-movie series and Dom replies “That’s exactly what we’re gonna do” and folks, I cheered
Joel Zammit (5★) · 3555 likes
If Prince Phillip was still alive this film would have killed him.
Kevin Y (3★) · 2198 likes
There's a scene where Charlize Theron viciously delivers a bunch of Star Wars metaphors and it's more unhinged than any of the action scenes
stevie (1.5★) · 1990 likes
I feel like these movies were good when they were bad and didn’t realize how good they were by being bad and now they’re just bad because they think they are good by trying to be bad but they’re actually just bad. Does that make sense?
Matt Singer (3★) · 1876 likes
Fast and Furious, the Olive Garden of movie franchises. When you’re here, you’re family.
Actual review at ScreenCrush.