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F9’s high-octane, ridiculous ending turns out to be a massive plot hole as Dom’s team tries to destroy a terrorist satellite headed for space.
WARNING: The following contains major spoilers for F9, now in theaters.
In the Fast & Furious series, it’s safe to say fans expect high-octane, ridiculous endings that defy the laws of physics. The fact F9 has Roman Pearce (Tyrese Gibson) and Tej (Ludacris) in space with a rocket-powered car says it all. It fits the franchise’s mold, expecting fans to suspend disbelief and enjoy bonkers action sequences as Dom’s crew saves the day as usual. However, F9 ends on an alarming note, which proves to be a massive plot hole.
The finale revolves around two components. Firstly, the terrorist, Otto, has to send a satellite up into space. Secondly, Jakob Toretto and Otto’s crew must truck around Tbilisi to upload the Aries software into it. This will then give them control of all the world’s weapons systems to bring about armageddon if they so choose.
The problem with this begins with how Dom’s team decides to stop the satellite. Sure, using a ramshackle rocket car is fun as it enables comedic moments. It also allows Han’s Japan team to get a role in the movie for building the contraption — but it’s unnecessary. This becomes apparent as Roman and Tej are launched via plane into the sky to track the satellite into orbit, where they intend to use magnets to then kill the uplink.
Seeing as Otto doesn’t protect the airspace at all, they could have just blown it up as it launched. They should have used missiles, bazookas or even fighter jets, which Cipher does to get back at them. After all, they’ve got more resources than her. While Kurt Russell’s Mr. Nobody is MIA, Dom has a deal with Shea Whigham’s Agent Stasiak for resources. Seeing as they know where the launch site is ahead of time, they could have contacted the authorities to blow the satellite up as an urgent matter of global security.
Otto has no security to intercept attacks or else he’d have known Team Dom was trying to hijack his mission. Obviously, these moving parts are just thrown in for a spectacle, but the final outcome for the satellite says it all. When Roman and Tej get close in space, the magnets stop working, so they have no choice but to ram it. Roman makes it clear they’ve gone to war and emerged as lucky men, unscathed time and time again, so why not go back to something basic and primitive.
So they crash into the satellite, which shatters into pieces but doesn’t blow their car up despite all the parts and rocket fuel attached. Seriously, a bazooka on land could have done the same thing. There’s also no valid reason why Otto’s squad needs to drive around town to upload Aries, other than maybe the signal keeps dropping in a place that has a bad network. His motives are never clearly defined. Instead, it just sets up an epic chase for Dom’s crew of street-racing warriors to break into the truck and get Aries back. Ultimately, this provides a non-sensical ending to F9, but it’s, honestly, still on-brand.
Directed by Justin Lin, F9 stars Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, John Cena, Nathalie Emmanuel, Jordana Brewster, Sung Kang, Helen Mirren, Kurt Russell and Charlize Theron. The film is in theaters now.
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