2 Fast 2 Furious
Review by
Clint Morris
 Director: "Cars in
place. Actors in place. Everyone re-fuelled. Scripts off-camera?"
Star: "Huh, what script?
We haven't got one; we're just working on the same plot as the
original."
It's quite simple actually. You take the
plot of the original Fast and the Furious -
undercover cop infiltrates petrol-head gang - extract the lead [in this
case Vin Diesel, who opted not to return], move the action to Miami [in
contrast to LA], bring in a new sidekick [Tyrese, of John Singelton's Baby Boy] and make a
quick Xerox of the original screenplay so you can use it again.
Bingo… "Fast and the Furious 2" - or 2
Fast 2 Furious, as the studio has astutely decided to call it
- is born.
Second fiddle of the first film, Paul Walker
returns - to guide this out of control tour bus of race sites -
reprising his role of Brian Connor, an ex-cop (he was stripped of his
badge after letting bad-guy Diesel go at the end of the first film)
with a penchant for all things searing, malodorous and capable of going
200km/h.
Sprung by the local law illegally
participating in drag racing, Connor finds himself roped into another
'undercover' sting as punishment, playing rat in a mission that'll see
a big-time import-export dealer named Carter Verone [Cole Hauser]
belatedly cuffed and carried away.
But first he and his nominated sidekick,
Roman Pearce [Tyrese] have to go through the motions to prove to the
mark that they're worthy of being in his presence.
About as anachronistic and generic as an
action sequel could be 2 Fast 2 Furious surely does
have a smorgasbord of nice car-stunts and action sequences up its
sleeve, but the cool characters and over-the-top fun of the original
has been sadly overlooked this time round.
Paul Walker gets the job done, but co-star
Tyrese offers only a fifth of the charisma Diesel bought to the
position first time round. He tries, he tries hard, but at the end of
the day he can't measure up to the bulky action-man, who - admit it -
made that first film what it was.
Even sadder is seeing John Singelton sitting
behind the camera. Kicking off his career with the fantastic Boyz
N'The Hood, it's been a downward spiral for the
once-promising director, with 2 Fast 2 Furious, the
final nail in his credential coffin.
Ok, so he proves he can stage a nice
car-chase, guide a couple of actors and blow up some convey…but - and
much like the film - it isn't deserving of such an audience.
2 out of 5
2 Fast 2 Furious
Australian release: Thursday June 5th
Cast: Paul Walker; Tyrese; Cole Hauser; Eva Mendes; Ludicris.
Director: John Singleton.
Website: Click here
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