Review of 2 Fast, 2 Furious

Introduction

Both the original director Rob Cohen and the original star Vin Diesel bowed out of having anything to do with this sequel to their 1999 hit. Wisely the producers had two screenplays commissioned so that if their star had signed up they would use one script, and if not they would use the other. This is the other.

Like the original, "Two Fast, Two Furious" (sounds like a Roadrunner cartoon title), is based in the world of street racing. Every car is souped up to the max, with custom paint jobs, custom stereo rigs, custom lighting and engines tuned to tolerances that would make Formula One engineers weep. And all driven by pikey low-lifes with the proverbial no-obvious-means-of-support. In the first street race alone we see four drivers - our hero, a couple of homeboy gang-types and uber-jail-bait Suki (Devon Aoki) racing their $250,000 minimum supercharged vehicles for a spur-of-the-moment race prize of $10,000. These people appear to be made of money, so they don`t get much sympathy from me when they trash their shock absorbers jumping an opened road bridge.

This movie is "The Dukes of Hazzard" writ large, with all the humour, the warmth and the basic logic surgically removed. Peroxided Rob Lowe lookalike Paul Walker plays disgraced cop turned street racer Brian O`Connor. Moving down to Miami, he hooks up with his old buddy Roman (Tyrese) and they get involved in an FBI sting to capture sleazy drugs kingpin Carter Verone (an overly sinister Cole Hauser). Throw in an undercover agent (Eva Mendes) and an old Miami Vice script backed up by an $80 million budget and I think you know what to expect.

Brainless at the best of times, and with something of a nasty streak, the picture was aimed at a (US) PG-13 audience. While swearing and violence is therefore toned down, there are still some nasty moments. Not least is a sequence involving the cleanest, most laid back sewer rat in Miami being used as a torture device on a fat cop on Verone`s payroll. Said rat is placed on fat cop`s stomach under a bucket and then the rat is emperiled so that the only way out is through the cop. Needless to say the action was closely monitored by the US Humane Society, but I was still concerned about the rat`s cholesterol levels having seen the cop.

Ultimately unsatisfying - too many loose ends are provided for a "Three Fast, Three Furious", which makes no sense as a title - this may appeal to the Jeremy Clarksons out there, but if fast cars don`t rev your engine you might want to skip this.

Video

Presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic, 2F2F is like the new Charlie`s Angels garishly hued eye candy. Fast moving and shot in either blistering sunshine or midnight streetlighting, the cars are the stars. The only thing I have trouble with is the time-dilation effect when they turn on the nitrous oxide afterburner. Warp factor six, anyone?

Audio

A thundering Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack is provided. The rock-oriented soundtrack by David Arnold, Ludacris et al wrestles for domination of your ears with the car sounds.

Features

One of the most intriguing extras on this disc is a short film that bridges the first movie and this one. Obviously cut from the movie for running time considerations it can be viewed as a prelude to the movie, or the movie viewed without it as per the theatrical cut. There is a full-length director`s commentary and a set of on-screen anecdotes (like the new Charlie`s Angels or Die Another Day).

There is the standard puff-piece "making of" featurette, five deleted scenes and a set of outtakes that mostly consist of Tyrese mugging to camera. There is also a featurette on "Supercharged Stunts", and "Making Music With Ludacris"

Recycled from the "Turbocharged" edition of the original movie is a featurette on "Tricking Out A Hot Import".

Three sets of menus are provided on this disc, one for "Brian", one for "Roman" and one for "Suki". Each menu is styled for the appropriate movie character and includes some extras specific to each actor. There is a short "spotlight" piece on each, another on the car they drive and each actor`s segment of a featurette on the "driving school" the stunt team had the actors attend.

Conclusion

Disappointing. Having seen some of the spectacular stunt sequences showcased in the trailers and promotional fluff for the movie on its initial release, it was something of a letdown to discover that was about all there was to the movie. None of the characters are sufficiently interesting to actually care about, and nothing is resolved with sufficient catharsis to make the experience worthwhile.

Catharsis - what happens to the shark at the end of Jaws, or the Death Star at the end of Star Wars. You catch my drift?