Review of 2 Fast 2 Furious (2003) by Christo A — 20 Jul 2014

Just to preface this review, I have never watched any entry in this franchise before this point. I decided to give them a go in the series entirety after being convinced that I will enjoy at least "one" of them.I've now watched part 2 and here is what I thought.

2 Fast 2 Furious has more action, a bit more comedic moments, and a new cast other than the series main protagonist Paul Walker(Brian O'Conner). These are the normal elements that make for a decent functioning sequel. The problem here is while watching this movie, one can't help but notice how the role of "Roman Pierce" (Tyrese Gibson) was originally written for Vin Diesel's "Dom". The minor tweaks they made after Vin turned down the role were so minor that it feels like a character that only exists to replace someone. And that's unfortunate for Tyrese Gibson who actually gives it his all in this film and is by far the best thing about it.

The film fails pretty much the way I would expect it to. Without the presence of "Dom", you can't help wondering why we should care to find out what a dual, bland, expressionless character like Brian O'Conner is up to. His character has so little development that after two full movies, I know nothing about him except for his lack of regard for human life and his inability to care about anything going on around him that doesn't involve a car race. He's a self centered jerk who's only characteristic is cheering himself on while causing freeway pile ups and destroying innocent peoples vehicles and endangering their lives for his own adrenaline fill. I get it, these movies are about the cars, but at some point we need a reason to care. If these movies are truly just about the car races, then why even bother bringing back characters from previous film in the franchise? Just replace the actors with new stories each time, so we know right off the bat not to care.

The film's biggest blunder is the villain. I like Cole Hauser. I think he's a fine actor and have watched him in films for years. He couldn't save this character. If I had to make a list of the dumbest, most generic villains of all time in film, this character would be right up there with Raymond Calitri (Gone in 60 seconds) and Rico (Crocodile Dundee II). He's just that pointless and typical. He wears silk suites and smokes his cigars and stares at people. You have to wonder why this guy even cares about money or power, because he doesn't really seem to enjoy anything. I am nitpicking, but even his name is stereotypical "Carter Verone". Its laughably bad and his character arc is the worst thing in the movie.

Some of the things I enjoyed about the film was the vast improvement on the car race scenes. You can tell they had a larger budget, probably due to the success of the first one and the fact that they didn't have to pay Vin Desiel. The direction is much more focused and you can follow what is going on much better. John Singleton is clearly a more talented director than Rob Cohen. It still has that "Cinema Cool" vibe with fast cars, hot chicks, and hip hop soundtrack. Those elements still work. The stakes are higher and being set in Miami was a nice way of shifting gears to keep it from feeling repetitive. Its a good enough sequel for what these films are and it makes the right moves that a part 2 should, though it lacks the pop cultural significance of the first.

I can't quite call it a good film, but again, these films are what they are and so far, I am not hating watching them.