2001’s The Fast and the Furious will be 12 years old this June. The film, which was directed by Rob Cohen, introduced the world to one of Vin Diesel’s signature roles in the form of Dominic “Dom” Toretto, a highly talented street racer and thief. Diesel faced off against Paul Walker’s street racing cop Brian O’Conner, who would briefly take over the franchise for John Singleton’s 2 Fast 2 Furious alongside Tyrese Gibson.
2006 brought with it The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, which changed the featured style and setting from the US and street racing to Japan and drift racing and focused on an entirely new cast, including Lucas Black and Bow Wow. Tokyo Drift was helmed by Justin Lin, who has directed every entry in the series since.
2009’s Fast and Furious saw both Diesel and Walker return to the franchise, and had the two friendly enemies team up get revenge on a murderous drug dealer. 2011’s Fast Five introduced Dwayne Johnson to the franchise as Diplomatic Security Service Agent Luke Hobbs. Now, this May will see the release of Fast and Furious 6, wherein Diesel, Walker, and Johnson must team up to battle an evil gang of car driving thieves. The film’s trailer premiered during the Super Bowl this past Sunday, with an extended version going up online today.
The Fast and The Furious has always been an absurd, hyper-macho series, and when it embraces that, it tends to be fairly enjoyable. This is, after all, the series that once saw Vin Diesel kill a man (Fast and Furious‘s Laz Alonzo) by impaling him with a car. Was it at all plausible? No, not really. Was it a well-constructed, over-the-top action scene that fit with the events around it? Absolutely.
At least based on this trailer, Fast and Furious 6 seems to be playing to the series’ strengths. The plot involves a capital E evil villain whose presence requires Diesel and Johnson, two primarily action-oriented actors with a good deal of charisma to put aside their differences and team up to drive around in beautiful, powerful cars around a visually interesting space in the name of justice and/or revenge.
Along the way there will be personal melodrama such as Walker’s series-long romance with Jordanna Brewster, who plays Diesel’s sister, and the various vehicles will do assorted impossible things. In this case, to quote the trailer, the villains have “got a tank.” So if nothing else, Fast and Furious 6 will have one of the first tank vs. high-end customized car chases in cinematic history. For the right audience, that is tremendously exciting news.
Check out the trailer below and let us know what you think.
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