Movie review
May 19, 2021 · 143 min · PG-13
Woke Score
Lower is better
Review
F9 follows Dominic Toretto and his crew as they face Dom’s estranged brother Jakob, who teams up with a financier to activate a dangerous superweapon called Project Aries. The story focuses on family loyalty, confronting past mistakes, and high-stakes action with cars, stunts, and global chases. No audience-visible identity-driven themes, activist dialogue, or modern social-justice framing appear in the plot, marketing, or reported reception.
Breakdown
These are the editorial factors and ratings behind our score for F9.
Woke representation / casting
Diverse international cast fits the franchise’s established global street-racing and criminal underworld premise; no story emphasis on identity, no character swaps, and no marketing framed around representation as a political statement.
Woke political dialogue
Standard action lines about loyalty, stopping villains, and protecting family; no activist rhetoric or modern political messaging.
Identity-driven story themes
Centers on traditional family bonds, redemption, and loyalty tested by betrayal; no race, gender, or sexuality-focused arcs.
Western institutional / cultural critique
Villains are rogue agents and terrorists with a superweapon; typical action-hero resistance with no modern activist framing of patriarchy, capitalism, or systemic issues.
Woke character or canon changes
Production
Not relevant; Han’s return is explained in-universe as faked death for plot reasons with no ideological rewrite.
Anti-woke backlash and complaints
No notable right-leaning or anti-identity complaints; criticism stayed on plot and stunts.
Creator track record context
Key creatives show merit-based or neutral commercial patterns; Justin Lin discusses inclusive casting through talent without activist language, and no other major figures have documented identity-driven histories.
