The Fate of the Furious features Dwayne Johnson. (Photo provided to China Daily)
Indeed, this eighth edition tries to be fresh.
The Fate of the Furious is the first major Hollywood studio movie shot in Cuba in the past 50-plus years, after US-Cuban relations got unfrozen after decades of confrontation.
As Moritz sees it: "Somebody's gonna do it, and we wanted to be the first one."
The racing has also been moved onto an icy plain in the Barents Sea, joined by a submarine, and myriad remotely-controlled automobiles creating a scene of a "zombie car" attack in New York, which Gray says like "playing in a toy store".
The role of Cipher, the hi-tech savvy controlling the automobiles, is the first female villain in the franchise.
She is played by Academy Award-winning South African actress Charlize Theron.
Calling herself a fan of the franchise, Theron, 42, also shares her feelings with China Daily about playing someone "powerful and rapacious".