If you thought the Fast & Furious series reached its peak with that ludicrously entertaining Rio chase scene in Fast 5, well, Fast & Furious 6 makes that set piece look like a casual Sunday drive. As we see in this special ‘Extended Look’ trailer, tanks and planes have now been added to the “vehicular warfare”. Just what this franchise needed? Or too silly for words? You be the judge.

6 picks things up after Dom (Vin Diesel), Brian (Paul Walker) and Co.’s $100 million Rio heist in Fast Five. Scattered across the globe, the crew is brought together again by police enforcer Hobbs (Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson) who needs help to defeat a ruthless criminal driving gang. Full pardons for previous indiscretions are negotiated and the team get to work. But they encounter a snag. Dom’s ex Letty (Michelle Rodriquez), who supposedly perished in the original film, turns out to be very much alive… and one of the leaders of the criminal outfit. Dun dah!

Justin Lin, who directed the original and Fast Five (arguably the two best flicks in the series), is back for this one. Can he deliver another nitrous-infused blast?

The action sequences look spectacular – albeit a tad ridiculous – and the hand-to-hand combat looks suitably brutal. But will it be entertaining or has the series jumped the shark? – not for the first time some might argue. I’m all for insane action, but too much of a good thing and I start to switch off. Hopefully there’s still some semblance of substance to Fast & Furious 6 – as much as a series like this can provide anyway.

Crazy enough for ya? Or way too much?

Since Dom (Diesel) and Brian’s (Walker) Rio heist toppled a kingpin’s empire and left their crew with $100 million, our heroes have scattered across the globe. But their inability to return home and living forever on the lam have left their lives incomplete.

Meanwhile, Hobbs (Johnson) has been tracking an organization of lethally skilled mercenary drivers across 12 countries, whose mastermind (Evans) is aided by a ruthless second-in-command revealed to be the love Dom thought was dead, Letty (Rodriguez). The only way to stop the criminal outfit is to outmatch them at street level, so Hobbs asks Dom to assemble his elite team in London. Payment? Full pardons for all of them so they can return home and make their families whole again.

Directed by Justin Lin (Fast & Furious, Fast Five) the film stars Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Dwanye Johnson, Luke Evans, Michelle Rodriquez, Jordana Brewster, Tyrese Gibson, Sung Kang, Gal Gadot, Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, Elsa Pataky, and Gina Carano.

Fast & Furious 6 roars into Kiwi cinemas on 30 May 2013.

Fast & Furious 6 teaser poster