The Fast And The Furious Retrospective Series - 2 Fast 2 Furious (2003)

Written In December 2013

Plot Summary Taken From Wikipedia

Watched by undercover Customs Agent Monica Fuentes (Eva Mendes), Brian is caught by US Customs agents and is given a deal by agents Bilkins and Markham (James Remar) to go undercover and try to bring down drug lord Carter Verone (Cole Hauser) in exchange for the erasure of his criminal record. Brian agrees but only if he is given permission to choose his partner, refusing to partner with the agent assigned to watch him. Brian heads home to Barstow, California, where he recruits Roman Pearce (Tyrese Gibson), a childhood friend of Brian who had served jail time and is under house arrest, to help him. Pearce agrees, but only for the same deal Brian was offered, and with the help of Monica, Brian and Roman work together to take down Verone. After acquiring confiscated vehicles and being hired by Verone as his drivers, the duo return to a Customs/FBI hideout, where Roman confronts Markham over the latter’s interference with the mission. After the situation is cooled down, Brian tells Bilkins and Markham that Verone plans to smuggle the money into his private jet and fly off, but also suspects something wrong with Monica’s role in the mission.

Sometime later, Brian and Rome race two other would-be Verone drivers for their cars and begin to devise a personal back up plan if the operation goes awry. Rome confronts Brian about his attraction to Monica and the constant threat of Verone’s men. On the day of the mission, Brian and Roman begin transporting duffel bags of Verone’s money, with Enrique (Mo Gallini) and Roberto (Roberto Sanchez) riding along. Before the 15-minute window is set, the detective in charge, Whitworth (Mark Boone, Jr.), decides to call in the police to move in for the arrest, resulting in a high-speed chase across the city. The duo lead the police to a warehouse, where a scramble by dozens of street racers disorient the police. Following the scramble, police manage to pull over the Evo and the Eclipse, only to find out that they were driven by two members of Brian’s new crew, Tej Parker (Ludacris) and Suki (Devon Aoki), respectively.

As Brian approaches the destination point, Enrique tells him to make a detour away from the airfield. Meanwhile, Roman gets rid of Roberto by using an improvised ejector seat powered by nitrous oxide. At the airfield, Customs Agents have Verone’s plane and convoy surrounded, only to discover they are duped into a decoy maneuver while Verone is at a boat yard several miles away. As he knew Monica was an undercover agent, he gave her the wrong information on the destination point and plans to use her as leverage. When Brian arrives at the intended drop-off point, Enrique prepares to kill him when Roman suddenly appears and the both of them dispatch of Enrique. Verone makes his escape aboard his private yacht, but Brian and Roman use the Camaro and drive off a ramp at high-speed, crashing on top of the yacht. The duo manage to apprehend Verone and save Monica. With their crimes pardoned, Brian and Roman ponder on what to do next other than to settle in Miami when Brian mentions starting a garage. Roman asks how they would afford that and Brian reveals that he took some of the money, as Roman also reveals that his pockets aren’t empty, having taken money for himself.

1st Question: Does this movie have a dumb title?

Answer:

2nd Question: Is this movie better than The Fast and The Furious?

Answer:

PROS:

• the action is SOOOOOO much better!
• the tone of the movie is almost an action comedy at times, and I adore it!
• the film is actually a bit more intimidating than Rick Yune.
• Paul Walker and Tyrese Gibson are just as great as Paul and Vin were, though the Tyrese dynamic is definitely more comedic than the one with Vin.
• Ludacris is great!
• DIRECTION WITH SOUL!
• A SENSE OF FUCKING HUMOR!

CONS:

• the cars are clearly CG during the first race and I kind of prefer a more realistic look
• while he is more intimidating at times, this villain still doesn’t have any quirks or qualities that make him memorable, which was an issue with Rick Yune as well.
• This is a really dumb title!

Overall Rating, 8 out of 10, it’s stupid popcorn entertainment that does it’s job perfectly!