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Right off the bat I can tell you I am really rooting for the success of _F9_, the latest addition to the _Fast & Furious _franchise, because if this one doesn’t floor it in theaters the

pandemic may have claimed the multiplex as its latest victim. Designed to be seen with a raucous crowd applauding every jaw-dropping stunt, Universal was wise to hold this one back a full

year until theaters could have some semblance of a reopening. The Asian markets’ launch of the film over the weekend seems to prove them right, but we have a month to go stateside before

confirming the appetite for this exhausting series still exists as a true global phenomenon. I saw_ F9_ with a socially distanced crowd last night at the TCL Chinese Imax screen in

Hollywood, and based on the reaction it appears Vin Diesel (more stoic than ever) and company are still working on all cylinders, even if the modest initial intentions of this car-centric

idea have ballooned to ridiculous proportions — even to the point of sending two of its major characters deep into outer space in a Pontiac Fiero, a potential jump-the-shark moment that is

so endearingly dumb it makes _Abbott and Costello Go to Mars _look like _Nomadland _by comparison. So here’s my advice: Check any expectations of credibility at the door and be comforted by

the fact that if you signed up for an extreme series of wacko bananas car stunts and explosions gone wild you will meet your nirvana (and then some) and have some fun in the process. WATCH

ON DEADLINE The _Fast _movies have been driving out of control for a while, clearly trying to challenge other studio franchise money-minters like James Bond and _Mission: Impossible _in

upping the ante and seemingly leaving nowhere to go _but _to outer space (actually, Bond did that decades ago in _Moonraker, _and Tom Cruise is promising to actually _make _a movie in

space). To pull off the extreme over-the-top antics required to meet the expectations of today’s action-savvy fans who demand bigger and more spectacular each time out, producers brought

back Justin Lin for his fifth spin around the _Fast _track after previously helming editions 3-6. He hasn’t missed a beat, though the landscape he and his co-writers have concocted is too

crowded with the need to showcase virtually all the characters fans love, plus some newbies just to add to the confusion. The storyline of _F9_ swerves all over the place but is Bondian in

tone as the gang must stop the bad guys from gaining control of an electronic device that will give them power over all the world’s digital devices. It gets convoluted from there, but that

is what Diesel’s Dom Toretto and new wife Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) find as their mission when their idyllic farm life with their child Little Brian (named, of course, for the late Paul

Walker’s character) is disrupted by a visit from Tej (Chris “Ludacris” Bridges), Roman (Tyrese Gibson) and hacker Ramsey (Nathalie Emmanuel) with word that Mr. Nobody’s (Kurt Russell) plane

is down in the Central American jungle and the deviously evil Cipher (Charlize Theron) is now in his custody. The central plot, though, finds Dom’s key nemesis this time actually is his

long-lost brother Jacob (John Cena, playing it with one pained expression throughout and making us miss The Rock even more), who as it turns out is still smarting from knowing Dom was always

their late race car driver father’s favorite as we learn in flashbacks. Now Jacob is intent on world domination by taking hold of that all-important device with the help of vicious henchman

Otto (Thue Ersted Rasmussen). Family, a constant theme running through the _Fast _universe, takes on a whole new level here. Meanwhile, old favorites like Queenie Shaw (Helen Mirren) shows

up for a speed-demon encounter through London with Dom, and the long-thought-dead Han (a welcome Sung Kang) is somehow _alive. _Other fan favorites are back for the ride including Jordana

Brewster’s Mia, but to tell you the truth the real stars of _F9 _remain the stunt teams and CGI wizards who keep ratcheting up the visual — and preposterous — thrills involving so many

variations of car chases, explosions and constant perils therein that I lost count. Whether it is outracing armored trucks, speeding across rickety bridges, surviving minefields galore, or

traversing danger in exotic locations across the globe, _F9 _delivers on what the audience seems to want, and want _more more more _of, which is why _F10 _can’t be too far off, and maybe as

the end-credit bonus sequence seems to promise, the return of a much needed past _Fast _star. Oh, and as for that bonkers outer space trip where Tej and Roman supply the comic relief and

seem to be winking at the audience admitting they know this stuff is _really _stupid, you will either go with it or you won’t, but don’t try to apply logic to a not-so-fast (at 2 hours and

25 minutes it seems too much is thrown at the wall) but very furious summer ride that must be seen on the biggest screen possible. You may not be able to keep saving the world, Vin Diesel,

but I am counting on you to save exhibition_. _ Producers are Neal H. Moritz, Diesel, Lin, Joe Roth, Jeffrey Kirschenbaum, Clayton Townsend and Samantha Vincent. _F9 _has opened in select

international markets and will launch in North America on June 25. Check out my video review above with scenes from the film. Do you plan to see _F9? _Let us know what _you _think.