2 Fast 2 Furious

 2 Fast 2 Furious

The first sequel went quickly into production, but minus two crucial elements. Director Rob Cohen, who vows never to direct sequels to his own movies – but would direct sequels to other peoples movies in the future (The Mummy – Tomb of the Dragon Emperor) - walked away to be replaced by John Singleton. This young director was most known for his fantastic debut a decade earlier with “Boyz n the Hood”. Vin Diesel, confident he had launched a franchise, also walked away to pursue other projects and work on positioning himself as the next big movie star. Paul Walker didn’t have anything else to do, so he came back and here we have “2 Fast 2 Furious”.

Continuing on from the events of FF1, Brian O’Connor is now on the run as a result of letting Dom get away. He’s made it to Florida, where he hides out in Miami. To make ends meet he races for money, and given his driving skills have improved drastically since riding with Dom’s crew, he owns the streets of Miami. But the police aren’t about to let one of their own go rogue, so they track O’Connor down and arrest him.

He’s given the chance to redeem himself if he helps the Miami Police bring down a local drug lord. This particular criminal hires skilled drivers to pick up and deliver special packages for him, so this is O’Connor’s ticket into his world. The disgraced cop says he’ll do it, only if he can recruit the help of an old pal; Roman Pearce (Tyrese Gibson). The two were friends when they were younger, but didn’t part on good terms. After a quick scuffle they team up again, and work together to infiltrate the drug lords cartel. Keeping an eye on them is U.S. Customs Agent Monica (Eve Mendes), and O’Connor keeps his eyes on her just as much, if you catch my drift..?

Many fans of the first film were disappointed that Vin Diesel wasn’t returning for the sequel. He was certainly the big drawcard of the first film, carrying the whole movie with his strong, imposing presence. Paul Walker just didn’t appear to be a good enough actor to carry a film, but I think he did alright.

2 Fast 2 Furious is certainly a different looking film from the first instalment. Jumping settings from LA to Miami, the whole film has a shiny, colourful and polished look to it, and this is achieved through the type of vehicles featured in the film. Keeping up with the times, the cars have been updated and so has the soundtrack. Showing that it would be the franchise to set the standards for the street racing world, 2 Fast 2 Furious sold audiences on its own confidence to be the premiere Car Racing Action Film series of the movie business.

The plot is quite different this time around. The rules of the illegal street racing scene were firmly established with FF1, so 2F2F gets straight into it, and offers a pleasantly entertaining villain (Cole Hauser) and an intriguing plot of our hero undercover cop once again infiltrating the wrong side of the law. Tyres Gibson was a welcome addition to the film, with his well-cut physique serving him well as an action star, and his street-smart, wise cracking humour providing the comic relief of the film.

After this film, Paul Walker would disappear, and the franchise went in a very different direction. In fact, it headed to the other side of the world. Japan to be exact…

Read review for "The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift"

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