The 2021 movie Fast & Furious 9 officially begins to address the concerns from the Justice for Han movement, but the campaign actually highlights the hypocrisy of The Fast Saga. Han Lue is back after years of being presumed dead in the film series, and while it's still uncertain how exactly Han survived his fatal car crash in Tokyo, the franchise is moving forward, with the newest installment kickstarting the process of holding Deckard Shaw accountable for his crime against the fan-favorite character.
Immediately after Han's presumed death, there was a push by fans to seek justice for him. Furious 7 seemed like it was going to address the issue as Dom and his crew squared off with Deckard, but the issue wasn't resolved in the film. The movement fully kicked into gear, however, on the heels of Fate of the Furious where not only was Deckard pardoned for his crimes against Han, he was also seemingly embraced into the "la familia." Understandably, Dom was grateful to the older Shaw brother who was instrumental in saving his secret kid from The Fast Saga villain Cipher — but the redemption arc didn't sit well for many fans, since there was barely any mention of what happened to Han. In fact, Deckard hasn't even properly apologized for his role in Han's crash.
Looking at the bigger picture, however, seeking justice for Han looks hypocritical. The Fast Saga's core theme is family — in various forms. The bond of Dom's crew is so strong that they're willing to risk their lives for each other. In F9, Dom volunteered to confront Jakob by himself; he tried to take responsibility for him because they're brothers. But, the team insisted on backing him up all the way despite the looming danger. Their mantra is essentially whoever is one's enemy is everyone's enemy. This was exactly the same principle that motivated Deckard to go after Han in the first place. Fueled by what happened to Owen, the older Shaw brother wanted to get revenge. He targeted Han first because he was the most vulnerable being isolated from the "la familia" in Asia. It's important to note that Deckard didn't have anything personal against Han specifically, it was just the most logical first step to accomplish his plan.
Some might argue that Owen was in the wrong, and Dom's team shouldn't be held accountable because they're simply stopping his criminal activities. However, in The Fast Saga, this shouldn't really matter, especially given how the "la familia" started as criminals themselves before evolving into a gang of for-hire good-doers. Looking back at Rob Cohen's The Fast and the Furious film from 2011, Dom and Brian did something similar to what Deckard pulled at the beginning of Furious 7. In the movie, Jesse refused to give up the Jetta that Johnny Tran won fairly during their race, escaping the scene instead. Angered by this, Tran and his minions did a drive-by shooting, killing Jesse. Without any second thoughts, Dom and Brian sought revenge right away by murdering the villain. It didn't matter that Jesse was primarily at fault for what transpired, his death needed to be avenged regardless.
This doesn't mean that Deckard shouldn't be held accountable for what happened to Han. At the end of the day, what he did was wrong and Fast & Furious 9's post-credits scene teased that this issue will finally be tackled properly. However, Deckard's redemption shouldn't be written off right away. He was operating under the same principle that Dom and his crew have been doing for years, so, somehow, it should be easy for the "la familia" to understand where he was coming from.
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July 04, 2021 at 12:13AM
