Written by Michael Brandt, Derek Haas
Directed by John Singleton

Running Time: 1:47
Rated PG-13 for street racing, violence, language and some sensuality.

B-

Starring:
Paul Walker
as Brian O'Conner

Tyrese
as Roman Pearce

Eva Mendes
as Monica Clemente

Cole Hauser
as Carter Verone

Chris 'Ludacris' Bridges
as Tej

Thom Barry
as Agent Bilkins

James Remar
as Agent Markham

Devon Aoki
as Suki

2 Fast 2 Furious
2 Fast 2 Furious

Paul Walker
Paul Walker

THE OPENING

A standard buddy film with fast cars, 2 Fast 2 Furious was a pretty decent film. The plot wasn't original, the characters weren't special, the acting was at times sad, but all in all it was a fun ride.

THE STORY

Brian O'Conner, thrown off the force after the original film, is now in Miami, street racing for some money. The F.B.I. contacts him because they need to take down a drug dealer named Carter. They already have an agent on the inside, Monica, who can help Brian get in with Carter and be one of his drivers. Brian needs a partner and contacts an old buddy from back home, Roman. Together they lie, cheat, steal and do whatever it takes to get some nice cars, screw around with the police and capture the bad guys.

THE REVIEW

The big question coming into this film was, did people go see The Fast and the Furious for the cars, for Vin Diesel, for Paul Walker or some combination of the list? And then, would they come back for the sequel? I think fans of the original will be happy with the second. Paul Walker was his typical frat boy self. He won't be winning any awards for his acting abilities any time soon, but he looked like he was having fun which helped. Tyrese did an admirable job filling the shoes of the Diesel man, taking the role in a different manner. While Diesel's Dominic was more hardcore and serious, Tyrese's Roman was more comical, with a hard edge. His character spent 3 years in prison and therefore, did everything he could to make sure he didn't go back to jail, and ate as much as he could because as he said, prison food sucks. He had most of the funny lines in the film and that humor helped the films entertainment value.

I am not a car person; never have been, never will be, so I can't tell you what kind of cars were used or anything like that. I can tell you they were fast and furious. No, seriously, they were fast and fun. The car used by Devon Aoki's character Suki had this onboard monitor which had an image on it that rivaled her facial expressions and was rather funny. The cars given by the F.B.I. to Brian and Roman didn't seem as cool as some of the other cars used in the film, but they served their purpose. There seemed to be less racing scenes in this film than in the first one, but some of the stunts were still pretty cool. The final chase scene involved a pretty spectacular stunt that I won't mention, but looked good. There was a racing scene that started off the movie and another in the middle that looked good but were shot somewhat differently than the original. Director John Singleton used a lot more close-ups than previous director Rob Cohen and you saw a lot more of the driver's facial expressions and things like the steering wheel and shifting gears and the like.

The plot was fairly standard; send a couple of guys undercover to take down a drug dealer. The drug dealer is a powerful guy you don't want to mess with; he has his normal hired goons to take care of his dirty business; he's jealous if his woman talks to another guy. There are doublecrosses, inept policemen and the good guys take out the bad guys when it counts. The acting was the quality you'd see in a Saturday afternoon movie on the WB network or something, but since most people are coming for the cars and the action, it wasn't too distracting. With a cast that featured Tyrese and Ludacris, the soundtrack was predictably high quality and worth a listen.

THE BOTTOM LINE

So overall, if you were a fan of The Fast and the Furious, you'll be a fan of the interestingly named 2 Fast 2 Furious. Some good action scenes, a simple plot but a high fun factor make the movie worthwhile.


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reviewed 06/03/03

© 2003 Wolfpack Productions

Wolfpack Productions