Tuesday’s Top Trailer: Fast Five

Welcome back to a weekly feature here at Movies with Abe, Tuesday's Top Trailer. One of my favorite parts about going to see movies is the series of trailers that airs beforehand and, more often than not, the trailer is far better than the actual film. Each week, I'll be sharing a trailer I've recently seen. Please chime in with comments on what you think of the trailer and how you think the movie is going to be.

Fast Five – Opening April 29, 2011



File this under guilty pleasure. It took the fifth installment in ten years of a car racing film franchise for me to reinstitute the Tuesday’s Top Trailer series after sidelining in favor of busy December movie and Oscar coverage. I spotted this trailer on IMDB’s home page and had to watch it right away, not having even known it was scheduled to be made or released. What’s especially significant about this film is that, about nine years ago or so, Vin Diesel had his pick of three sequels to star in after enormous success with “The Fast and the Furious,” “XXX,” and “Pitch Black.” Puzzlingly, he chose the last film, while the other two still got made without their original star. After a third film in the FF series without any of the original players, a fourth installment came out in 2009 with the original stars surprisingly intact, restoring Diesel to the film that really made him famous. Now, he’s back again, along with original cast members Paul Walker and Jordana Brewster, for yet another film. Both Diesel and Walker are on the wrong side of the law here, and I love how enemy commander warns, “Whatever you do, do not let them get into cars.” The Rock, a.k.a. Dwayne Johnson, is a fantastic choice to play the man hunting down the two fugitives, following the awesome, AFT-nominated ending to the most recent film. I don’t know what exactly those two characters will be up to, but I’m in, no question. I’m a bit less thrilled about the film being released in IMAX since I’m not eager to pay the exorbitant surcharge, but at least it’s not as bad as 3-D. Even if this was hastily put together after the success of episode four, I’m sure the action will be superb. And clearly Diesel is going back on a few of his decisions, also appearing in the third XXX movie, slated for release next year as well. I didn’t see number two in that series, but I know I’m excited for “Fast Five.”