Fast & Furious 9 Review: 5 Ups & 5 Downs
4. The Disappointing Villains
The Fast series has always been pretty hit-and-miss where its antagonists are concerned, but F9 features some of the series' worst missteps in that regard.
Though John Cena is perfectly, hilariously cast as Dom's (Vin Diesel) big, bad brother Jakob Toretto, the character as written rarely rises above being a generic meathead baddie who could've been played by any similarly-muscled actor-athlete.
Despite the film insisting Jakob is a master thief, assassin, and driver, it just feels like he's going through the motions, and even a flashback-filled backstory doesn't make him much more interesting.
Those hoping to see much more of Charlize Theron's Cipher are also sure to be bitterly disappointed, as she spends the vast majority of the movie locked in a glass box at the behest of Jakob's associate Otto (Thue Ersted Rasmussen).
Sadly Otto is just a generic Eurotrash mook himself, so on the villain front F9 is three swings and three misses.