2 Fast 2 Furious
Year: | 2003 |
Director: | John Singleton |
Cast: | Paul Walker, Tyrese Gibson, Eva Mendes |
Hollywood whore John Singleton (after starting his career with edgy independent work like Boyz N the Hood then becoming the studio machine's 'black' director of the likes of Shaft and now this) doesn't go in too different a direction, although some of the special effects bells and whistles are taken a bit over the top.
After losing his badge, Brian O'Connor (Paul Walker) heads to Miami with buddy (Tyrese Gibson) to smash a crime ring by posing as drivers. Cue lots of unrelated racing and Miami glitz-style set pieces that add up to a bit of entertainment fluff.
You really have to suspend disbelief watching cars going the speed of interstellar starships around a city like Miami that's (conveniently) totally deserted when there's a race to be had. And Walker suffers from 'overcooling' by having him walk and talk like a black gangsta.
The franchise doesn't really suffer without Rob Cohen and Vin Diesel, but Singleton and Walker (alone) don't do it any special favours.