“2Fast2Furious” (Universal Pictures)
In the summer of 2001 a movie came out of nowhere to tear up the box office. It was titled “The Fast and the Furious” and it starred Paul Walker and a virtually unknown actor named Vin Diesel. The movie caused a sensation with its souped up cars and its fast paced action plot. It also made a star out of Diesel.
Now the sequel, “2Fast2Furious,” is in theaters and making a lot of noise. Walker is back in the lead but Diesel has moved on to other adventures. This time the co-star is the virtually unknown actor named Tyrese. This movie could do for him what the original did for Diesel.
Walker is still playing a man named Brian O’Conner. He is no longer an undercover policeman because he let the bad guy walk away (Diesel) in his last case. Still the Feds want him to come back as they have a case involving a druglord in Miami (Cole Hauser) which requires a cop who can drive fast cars.
O’Conner and his buddy Roman Pearce (Tyrese) take the case and enter into the sting to capture the bad guy. They are aided by an undercover female officer named Monica Fuentes (Eva Mendes).
The movie exists to stage car races, car chases and car crashes. Everything in between is just filler. If you don’t enjoy the car scenes then stay at home. Oh yes, and if the fact that most of these races take place on highways where innocent civilians are driving and are endangered, then stay at home. Of course in a movie like this there are no fatalities even when the cars sway and crash with alarming regularity.
In the original movie Diesel was so cool he made Walker hot. In this movie Tyrese is also cool but nothing can make Walker hot. He is as bland as the proverbial “white bread” can be and when he tries to speak street jargon he is “2slow2ludicrous.”
Mendes is sultry and simmering but never really “in” the movie. She just circles around it and pouts and primps with stunning effect.
The movie is rated PG-13 for profanity and violence.
“2Fast2Furioius” will draw kids to the film who want to see hot cars and high speed chases. Those looking for any strong acting talent or an interesting plot will have to look elsewhere. Tyrese manages not to embarrass himself like Walker does; Mendes can move on to the next “Raquel Welch-like” role; and director John Singleton can start trying to resurrect a career that has gone into the toilet.
I scored “2Fast2Furious” a too slow 3 out of 10.
