Once upon a time we had trailers for movies. These days, the norm is to have a trailer for a trailer, called a teaser. What a time to be alive. Hypocritically I tend to get excited as anyone else for these brief glimpses into a slightly less brief glimpse into upcoming blockbusters. And few things get me as excited as teasers, trailers, leaked images, or even Vin Diesel tweets referencing any new entry in The Fast and the Furious franchise. Before you quickly and fiercely (see what I did there?) tell me that these movies are garbage, let me cut you off (see what I did there?) and tell you that you are absolutely wrong. Are these movies “good?” No, of course not. Are they entertaining? Absolutely.
After the cargo-plane-destruction of the sixth film and the sky car-diving sequence of the seventh, some joked that the only place left for the F&F movies to go was outer space; presumably to have some kind of absurd quarter mile race with a rogue asteroid that would make Bruce Willis and Ben Affleck blush. However, instead of going up, the franchise seems to be heading North as we get ever closer to my dream production of The Fast and Furious on Ice. Shut up, it will be epic. As with any teaser, there is not much to go on but it shows just enough to assure that everything cementing the previous features as some of the most fun you can have watching a screen will be there. The cars, the racing, the explosions, and most importantly, the slow motion over-the-shoulder Vin snarl.
The other element that keeps growing with each entry is the cast size and quality. The last few brought in talent the likes of the Rock, Jason Statham and Kurt Russell. The 8th film adds even more big names with Charlize Theron, Scott Eastwood, Kristofer Hivju and, get this, Helen Mirren. Yes, that Helen Mirren. We also get a new director with F. Gary Gray, which is hardly exciting considering his portfolio being rather… meh. Although his action sequences in The Italian Job do make me optimistic overall, and John Singleton unfortunately proved that just because you are a brilliant director does not mean you can make a fun Fast and Furious flick. The rest of the iconic cast returns from the last film, sans the tragically lost Paul Walker.
The ominously titled The Fate of the Furious is expected in theaters April 2017, while the full trailer is slated to drop this Sunday.
Usually I would ask you to let us know what you think about the next installment in the long-running series on social media, but unless you’re excited as I am, we have nothing to discuss.
