Nine movies deep - ten, if you count 'Hobbs & Shaw' among them - is enough time for any franchise to start taking stock of where they're going and what's next for them.
Is it time for it to wrap itself up? Isn't nine movies the point where you wonder if it's become redundant? How can you possibly convince people to come back after that many movies? In the case of 'Fast & Furious 9', the answer is simple and effective.
You throw out the laws of physics, have cars fly across the screen like toys, throw in John Cena as Vin Diesel's on-screen long-lost brother, put Helen Mirren in there behind the wheel of a supercar, put Charlize Theron in the cockpit of a jet fighter and sprinkle in some of the franchise's lore.
Han, for example, who was long thought dead? Turns out he's alive. Dominic Toretto? Has an evil older brother called Jacob, who looks like John Cena. It's all in there, all vying for competition in the space of a five-minute trailer, and it's all just as loud, silly and exciting as you'd expect.
That's how you keep a franchise going nine movies on. You make it so silly, so ridiculous, that it's impossible to ignore. Honestly, to think this whole thing started out as a 'Point Break' rip-off? Look at now. Dear God, look at it now.
'Fast & Furious 9' smashes through the wall of your local cinema on May 22nd.
