- the extremely durable, long-lived fast & furious franchise has now completed another installment, and a trailer for f&f 9: the fast saga went live this afternoon.
- we previously told you a 2020 toyota supra and a widebody dodge charger were part of the action in the new movie, as is john cena.
- the movie opens in theaters on may 22.
since the original fast and furious movie came out in 2001, gearheads across the world have been captivated and inspired by vin diesel and his gang and their on-screen, off-the-rails racing. it's no secret that the movies have evolved since the original, in which street racing and crime reigned supreme. the latest movies have been all about redemption and family, and the teaser trailer that was released three days ago seemed to bring that family theme to the forefront.
the teaser released earlier this week was missing something. what is it? oh, of course: it had no driving in it at all. instead, it showed vin diesel's character, dom toretto, and his son, brian, working on a tractor together. michelle rodriguez's character, letty, makes an appearance as well. toretto declares that now that he is a father, he can no longer live a quarter-mile at a time, as he famously declared in the first movie to brian o'conner, played by the late paul walker. he goes on to say that things change, but as fans of the franchise we're guessing he figures out a way, because as the teaser (above) shows, the movie offers plenty of the cool cars and over-the-top stunts we’ve come to expect.
the cast remains mostly unchanged from the previous installment of the film series, the fate of the furious. dwayne "the rock" johnson is gone, though. new to the cast is john cena, who plays jakob, dom toretto's long-lost brother, hired by charlize theron's character, cipher, to kill dom after his betrayal in the eighth movie, giving those who are still interested in the series some continuity.
car- and stunt-wise, the trailer did not disappoint, with dom's original 1969 charger making an appearance early on. toretto is seen driving a charger hellcat widebody through jungle-like terrain, giving chase to jakob, who appears to be driving a modified ford mustang.
which he then drives off a cliff, only to be caught by cipher in a b-2 bomber-style jet. a pontiac fiero makes an appearance as well, but it’s not just any old fiero. this one has a couple of rocket engines strapped on the back. that's how you know you're in a fast and furious movie: the stunts become more spectacular and less probable as the plot develops.
the biggest surprise in the trailer was the appearance of han, the drift master who was supposedly killed in tokyo drift by deckard shaw. it's just a glimpse in the trailer, in which he's driving the orange toyota supra we spied earlier last year when filming was getting under way for fast 9. but the trailer shows us enough to know that fast & furious is alive and well as a franchise. if you're not tired of watching these yet, well, clearly, neither are a lot of people.