2 Fast 2 Furious

The people who made “2 Fast 2 Furious” had no idea the franchise would get to be as big as it is now It makes sense then that this is the follow-up to “The Fast and the Furious”. It’s exactly what I expected it to be. The film is a teenager, and not in a good way. It’s trying way too hard to be awesome, many of its actions are puzzling and it shows potential while proving itself to be quite stupid.

Former LAPD officer Brian O’Conner (Paul Walker) now makes a living racing the streets of Miami. When the FBI forces him to help them take down drug lord Carter Verone (Cole Hauser), he brings in his own team of experts to get the job done: childhood friend Roman (Tyrese Gibson), mechanic and race organizer Tej (Ludacris), speed demoness Suki (Devon Aoki) and the sultry Monica Fuentes (Eva Mendes)

The biggest problem with this film is that the plot is completely worthless. The drug kingpin thing has been done time and time again. It doesn’t help that Carter Verone is a dull villain. He doesn’t have an ounce of charisma or charm. He’s just an excuse to have our heroes drive around and dodge bullets while placing Brian undercover once again. Actually, a lot of "2 Fast 2 Furious" is reminiscent of the first film. We’re introduced to the Miami race scene, we get a couple of characters that are compelling (and others that aren’t, those ones you know exactly where they’re going), there are many shots of beautiful women lounging along in their bikinis, and we’re given a “forbidden” love plot that threatens to compromise Brian’s entire operation. Like I said before, it's the sign of a series that doesn't have many aspirations that it's mostly trying to recapture the success of the first by copying it.

While the newcomers to the franchise are not as immediately magnetic as Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel, not appearing in this film!? ) they do have their charm and thankfully, a little bit of Paul Walker goes a long way. Once again, the film delivers when it comes to the stunts and racing action. There’s also something mouth-watering about seeing these amazing racing machines as presented here. When the characters fawn over the engines, the rims, the various techniques used to make them go faster than ever before you start caring about what's happening.

You can enhance your viewing experience by watching the “Turbo Charged Prelude” to "2 Fast 2 Furious", likely included on the DVD (if it isn’t, check on the disc for the previous film) Had the franchise stopped here, it would be a hard sell. It’s just not as fun as the first one. But I’ve got faith that something better is on the way. Up next, “Tokyo Drift”! (On DVD, March 19, 2017)