F9 (2021)

Director: Justin Lin

Notable Cast: Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, John Cena, Jordana Brewster, Tyrese Gibson, Ludacris, Sung Kang, Nathalie Emmanuel, Thue Ested Rasmussen, Charlize Theron, Helen Mirren, Anna Sawai, Kurt Russell, Lucas Black, Shad Moss

Also known as: F9: The Fast Saga

 

While one could argue the diminishing returns in quality of the Fast & Furious & Franchise continues to plague newer entries, there is something special in how much F9 tries to rectify so much of the misfiring that happened in Fate of the Furious. Even the soap opera-inspired long-lost brother plot or the return of Han (Justice is served, nerds) are addressed in a way that says "we know, we botched a lot of the family stuff in the last one, but we're trying harder now." The intent is amicable, if not flawed in its own right. 

Star Trek Beyond (2016)

Director: Justin Lin

Notable Cast: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Simon Pegg, Karl Urban, Zoe Saldana, John Cho, Anton Yelchin, Idris Elba, Sofia Boutella, Joe Taslim, Lydia Wilson

When Star Trek Beyond was initially announced, I’ll admit that I was hesitant. I didn’t love Into Darkness like I thought I would, behind the scenes turmoil left this third film in the reboot series with writing issues, and JJ Abrams vacated the director’s seat to transfer franchises and make a Star Wars movie. Needless to say, it seemed like Star Trek Beyond was going to be lost in space. Fortunately, Paramount and company seemed to understand that this film needed an injection of new life and that they needed to go back to basics. Star Trek Beyond does just that – Doug Jung and Simon Pegg aptly embrace the episodic adventure formula of the original series and director Justin Lin pulls away from the overly complex attempts selling the science fiction and guns for a much more straight forward approach – and it works impressively at what it wants to execute. Color me captivated.