What to See this Week (01/28/22)
F9: The First Saga
THE FAST and Furious crew reunites to stop a cyberterrorist from building a dangerous weapon. Dom is forced to confront his past when his forsaken brother turns out to be a henchman of the enemy. Directed by Justin Lin, it stars Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Ludacris, Jordana Brewster, Tyrese Gibson, John Cena, Nathalie Emmanuel, Helen Mirren, Charlize Theron, Sung Kang, and Michael Rooker. Entertainment Weekly’s Darren Franich writes, “I missed Lin’s steady hand in the recent CGI-heavy installments. F9 has a lot of wrestling duels inside of moving vehicles. You can follow the tight-quarters combat even when you forget why they’re fighting. I also missed Lin’s natural generosity, the way he insistently makes minor characters shine like major stars. He joined the franchise with 2006’s endearing offshoot Tokyo Drift, and some Tokyo Drifters reappear here. Fifteen years later, they’ve grown into… experimental vintage car scientists, if that’s a job? They’re paid to strap rockets onto things that don’t usually get strapped to rockets. A bit of self-expression there, maybe, from a director who works hard finding weird ways to blow things up.” Rotten Tomatoes’ Tomatometer gives it a 59%, while its audience rating is at 82%.
MTRCB Rating: PG
The 355
WILD card CIA agent Mace must team up with a rival German agent, a computer specialist, and a Colombian psychologist to retrieve a top-secret weapon that had fallen into mercenary hands. They have to keep ahead of a mysterious woman who tracks their every move. Directed by Simon Kinberg, the film stars Jessica Chastain, Lupita Nyong’o, Diane Kruger, Penelope Cruz, and Fan Bingbing. CNN Entertainment’s Brian Lowry writes, “Like a TV pilot, The 355 plays a little too transparently like something that wants to set up an ongoing framework, leaving the door open for sequels. Anything’s possible, but putting aside the particular challenges of the current theatrical moment, a stronger movie would have offered more hope of fulfilling that mission. As is, the cast might possess an enviable abundance of star quality, but The 355 adds up to less than the sum of its parts.” Rotten Tomatoes’ Tomatometer gives the film a score of 25%, while its audience rating is 85%.
MTRCB Rating: PG
