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June 6, 2003
By Veronica Mixon
The roar of engines signal the arrival
of the sequel to the 2001 blockbuster
The Fast and the Furious
that celebrated the popularity of urban
street racing. Fast cars, pretty women
and macho men, and a lot of posturing
are still key elements to this genre.
John Singleton (Shaft) helms
2 Fast 2 Furious
and he delivers a loud, fierce picture
of heart stomping excitement when the
racing takes center stage.
Paul Walker returns as Brian O'Connor,
now a disgraced cop who races for cash
in Miami. When he's arrested after an
illegal race, the cops persuade him
to go undercover to nail Carter Verone
(Cole Hauser), a flamboyant businessman
who operates an international money-laundering
cartel. While the Feds have an undercover
agent, Monica Fuentes (Eva Mendes) in
Verone's employ, they know that he's
about to skip out of the country for
good. Brian insists on including an
old pal, Roman Pearce (Tyrese) but this
angry ex-con makes the Feds (James Remar
and Thom Berry) very nervous. "Fast
cars, beautiful women and crooked cops!"
exclaims Roman. "I was made for
this!"
Verone, played by Cole Hauser, who
was so seductive in White Orleander,
is a dangerous man who trusts no one
and after Brian and Roman secure a spot
on his payroll, he becomes jealous of
the growing relationship between Brian
and Monica. Furthermore, the guys are
being tracked with a bug in their cars
and they soon realize that they'll have
to plan a special escape route if they
are to survive all of the intense police
surveillance and Verone's evil tricks.
2 Fast 2 Furious
is an entertainment piece of summer
fluff. Fans of the first film, which
survived with very little plot, will
adore the sequel that at least has a
better story structure. There is plenty
of action thrills and fancy camera shots
of the various street races. Eva Mendes,
who was so memorable as Denzel Washington's
mistress in Training Day and
newcomer, Devon Aoki are standouts from
the anonymous female eye candy flouncing
around the cool cars in the movie. Walker,
who finally got noticed in the original
film after appearing in The Skulls,
Varsity Blues and She's All
That, and his co-star, Tyrese,
who was excellent in Singleton's Baby
Boy, are not only macho leading
men but also delicious eye candy for
women in the audience. Lastly, Chris
"Ludacris" Bridges, the multi-platinum
selling entertainer makes his film debut
and he's rather good as the organizer
of the races.
2 Fast 2 Furious
is an ear-shattering adrenalin rush!
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