2 Fast 2 Furious

2 Fast 2 Furious is the sequel to 2001's wildly popular The Fast and the Furious. Once again the movie revolves around street racing, but this is a very different film from the original. Can a new supporting cast and new director match the success of the first movie? We think so!

John Singleton of Boyz in the Hood and Shaft fame replaces Rob Cohen as director. Vin Diesel and all of the original supporting cast are gone, but Paul Walker is back to reprise his role as Brian O'Connor. This time he's joined by Tyrese Gibson as Roman. It's kind of obvious that the screenplay was written with the hope that Diesel would return. Roman ends up being an angrier wise-cracking version of Vin's Toretto character.

This movie finds Brian kicked off the police force and street racing in Miami. He gets busted and the FBI and Customs cuts a deal whereby his record will be cleansed if he goes undercover to help them get a dirty importer/exporter. Check your brain at the door at this point otherwise you'll find yourself asking silly questions like "why would you hire street racers to run your loads for you at 100+ mph down the interstate in broad daylight?".

The allure of these movies isn't the plot though. It's the cars and the racing. In that regard, this movie is a bit better than the first. The races are a little longer as they're not just doing quarter mile drag races. And there are also some massive chase sequences that tear up a lot of cars. The ricers are once again the star of the show, but we were pleased to see lots of different types of performance cars getting representation this time. We suspect John Singleton may be a closet car guy.

We went into this movie with low expectations, but we had a great time. We're giving this one a strong 4 stars. The movie has an entirely different feel from the first. It's much lighter with more humor, and the scenery, storyline and soundtrack give it kind of a Miami Vice meets hip hop flare. It worked, so if you like cars and this sounds like your bag, go see it.