First Take: 2 Fast 2 Furious- the difficult second film

SYPNOSIS: Former cop Brian O'Conner is called upon to bust a dangerous criminal and he recruits the help of a former childhood friend and street racer who has a chance to redeem himself.

With these new franchises, there is always a case of the second film being a rehash of the original. Unfortunately the follow-up to what ultimately began what is now one of Hollywood’s biggest series of films left me feeling bored and uninterested.

John Singleton is the man tasked with directing the action, and even though all of the car sequences are turned up to 11, the overall feel of the film just didn’t draw me in as much as the 2001 original, and that is partly thanks to the script from Michael Brandt and Derek Haas. From a technical side though, the film is shot very well by Matthew Leonetti, and the score from David Arnold is far superior to the score from the previous film.

Performance wise, Paul Walker takes the lead role in this film with ease, with Tyrese Gibson and Ludacris playing characters who I feel will shine more in later films, however, there is very little character development, and because of this, 2 Fast 2 Furious feels like a step backwards in terms of filmmaking. With another 6 films to get through, I genuinely feel like this could become tedious- but we shall see.

THE VERDICT

A far cry from the 2001 original, 2 Fast does have some good qualities, including some brilliantly thought out car sequences that will appease fans of the original, however, the general pacing and script of the film left me feeling like another rant could be on the horizon.

Rating: 3/5