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2 Fast 2 Furious
2003 - PG-13 - 107 Mins.
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| Director: John Singleton | | Producer: Neal H Moritz | | Written By: Michael Brandt | | Starring: Paul Walker, Tyrese Gibson, Eva Mendes, Tyrese, Cole Hauser |
| Review by: John Ulmer |
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I wasn't a big fan of 2001's "The Fast and the Furious," a movie about the ups and downs of street racing. But it was a hit -- and there were rumors of a sequel afoot for a year or so until the film's original director, Rob Wilkes, decided not to return. The first flick's star, Vin Diesel went ahead and dropped out, too.
Two years later, "2 Fast 2 Furious" is out, directed by John Singleton and starring the first film's co-star, Paul Walker, in the spotlight, as Brian O'Connor, the cop from the original who went undercover in the street racing circuit in hopes of being able to convict Diesel's character of illegal activites. In the end he was fired for letting Disel go, or so we learn in the sequel, which has our character sneak into the Miami street racing circuit in hopes of earning his badge back again.
The movie is too fast and too furious, as the title implies, which can be a good thing in some cases and a bad thing in others. Paul Walker as Brian O'Connor is flat; we couldn't care less about his character nor his outcome. Replacing Vin Diesel is Tyrese, a rapper with a mean attitude, and he doesn't compare to Diesel, who at least had a sort of underlying charm about him. Tyrese is just mean, gruff and quite unsympathetic. We should we feel for him when he obviously could not give a hoot for anybody else?
This is nothing more than a summer blockbuster with intentions of income. At least with a sequel like "Terminator 3" we feel as if it has been somewhat crafted for the many fans of the first two in one way or another, and that the sole idea was not just for profit. If a film can make us feel that way, then it's a winner.
Did there need to be a sequel to "The Fast and the Furious"? It did well at the box office and received warm receptions from car geeks and testosterone junkies, but there wasn't any sense of extreme loyalty or even love. It was just another action flick that was a good deal better than some other action flicks in cinemas at the time.
'2 Fast 2 Furious' is a typical sequel cash-in, little else than a showcase for rough rappers to get their names on the film's soundtrack. This movie makes "The Fast and the Furious" look like a masterpiece. And I didn't think that there would ever be a movie that would make me say that.
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