The first THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS was a nice surprise. Engaging characters, nice car stunts made for an enjoyable ride. The second outing suffers from what so many sequels suffer from. It's like comparing a new Mustang with the original. The new version is shiny and glossy and has some of the same elements that made the original good, but there is nothing under the hood.
Brian O'Conner (Paul Walker, PLEASANTVILLE), the undercover cop from the first film, is under suspicion for letting his last target go. So he decides to take the street racing skills he learned in the first film and move to Miami. After a race he is nabbed by U.S. Customs who knows all about his past. They are working with the FBI to take down Argentinian drug lord Carter Verone (Cole Hauser, PITCH BLACK). Brian is made a deal that his record will be cleared if he goes undercover to nab Verone. Because he needs a partner he recruits his old friend Roman Pearce (Tyrese Gibson, BABY BOY), who is doing some time. And because they need a sexy female partner, they are teamed with Monica Fuentes (Eva Mendes, GHOST RIDER), who has been posing as Verone's girlfriend for months.
The biggest problem with this film is the absence of Vin Diesel. He was the most interesting part of the original and Gibson is not a fitting replacement. Walker, who was convincing in the first outing, feels awfully awkward as the "down" white guy. His stiff performance combined with Gibson's slightly over the top performance sucks credibility from every moment.
Director John Singleton seems to be having fun with the material, but it comes off as having too much fun. It seems like he doesn't take one bit of it seriously, so why should we? The first film had an edge and we felt there was something on the line, but this one feels like it wants to be a buddy comedy, but there aren't any jokes. The most unsettling part is the gleeful abandon that excessive violence is handled. Roman repeatedly stomping on someone is played for laughs. I was cringing.
Additionally, the drug element in the first film was not nearly as interesting as the underground racing world. The importance of the two elements are flipped here, making this one more of a standard undercover crime flick. Now don't get me wrong there are lots of pretty cars that drive fast, but too often it means nothing. Take for instance a big drag race sequence where the guys are racing to get new cars. Get new cars? It doesn't make for gripping motivation and on top of that it's heavy reliance on visual effects makes it cartoonish. And worst of all it goes on forever. Oh and let's not get into the concluding action sequence that makes the action in DUKES OF HAZZARD look plausible.
For a car movie, the film delivers on that promise. There are a lot of cars. But that's like saying the forest delivers on trees and watching trees is boring. This is some of the worst action I've seen in awhile, because it has no value to the plot. There are long, absurd chases and the crime story. They exist on two separate planes the entire movie. It really doesn't matter because both parts don't work either together or on their own. To call this film a car wreck would be too easy. This film doesn't even have an engine so it's sitting in the driveway rusting.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
