Vin Diesel reckons the latest Fast And Furious film deserves a best picture Oscar but has two strikes against it when it comes to the Academy — it’s an action flick and it’s a sequel.

“Do I shy away from aiming high? No, I don’t,” said the 47-year-old actor in Beijing, where he was promoting the latest movie in the fast car franchise.

Vin Diesel
Vin Diesel in Beijing (AP)

“And yet we all know that there’s a little stigma towards action films, we know it, we’ve heard people complain about it, we’ve heard Marvel complain about it, we’ve heard DC complain about it, and now Harry Potter, Hunger Games, Batman has never gotten a shot at that,” he said.

Alluding to the fact that many of the recent Oscar best picture winners haven’t fared well at the box office, Vin said: “The Oscars have been somewhat criticised in the last couple of years for maybe not being as populist as they could be, but we have a very powerful movie here.”

He said that Fast And Furious 7 has an “emotional toll”, which may make people argue that it is more directed towards women. “We’re actually responding to the fact that our female audience has just increased and has either eclipsed or is threatening to eclipse our male audience, we’ve seen that across the board,” said Vin, who also produces the Universal Pictures’ movie.

In Fast And Furious 7, Vin plays street racer Dominic Toretto, whose family is threatened by Jason Statham’s character, who is out for revenge for the death of his brother. Jason said audiences will be able to relate to the fact that both men are standing up for their family.

“All cultures around the world, wherever you go, everyone knows what family means,” said Jason, who was also in Beijing to promote the movie and attend the China premiere, along with Michelle Rodriguez, who plays racer Letty Ortiz.

Jason Statham
Jason Statham plays Vin Diesel’s latest adversary (AP)

The film is one of the last movies starring Paul Walker, who died in a car crash during a break in filming in November 2013.

The movie was completed with help from Paul’s brothers and is a tribute to him.

Michelle said her late co-star loved the world of racing and adrenaline sports.

Michelle Rodriguez
Michelle Rodriguez paid tribute to Paul Walker (AP)

“I’m going to celebrate him, and I’m going to celebrate everything that he represented about the celebration of life and the love of pushing life to its edge because there are individuals on this planet that can’t live otherwise, they can’t live ordinary lives cooped up hiding from danger and I’m one of those people and he was one of those people,” she said.