2 Fast 2 Furious 2 Cheesy 2 Miss

There’s a time and place for filet mignon and there’s a time and place for a big greasy cheeseburger (apologies to all my vegetarian friends for this analogy). The new summer action flick 2 Fast 2 Furious is a cheeseburger of epic proportions. Fast, loud, sexy and simple, it’s a movie that allows the viewer to sit back, relax, and enjoy the mindlessness of it all without getting all hung up on the particulars of plot or character development.

Adaptation, it ain’t.

2 Fast 2 Furious is one of those user-friendly sequels where seeing the original is not a prerequisite for following the action. The movie opens with a scene where four high-performance hot-rods race through the blocked off streets of downtown Miami. The scene eclipses the freeway stunts of Matrix Reloaded in its sheer realism and believability. In fact, most of the stunts in 2 Fast are of the old-school, “that coulda happened,” variety.

Ace driver Brian O’Connor (Paul Walker) gets nabbed by the cops and is given one chance to clear his extensive bad boy record by helping them set up an underworld kingpin named Carter Verone (Cole Hauser). He agrees, but on the condition that he can partner with childhood friend and ex-con Roman Pearce (Tyrese Gibson). The mission is complicated by the presence of undercover agent Monica Fuentes (Eva Mendes), who may or may not be siding with Verone.

2 Fast 2 Furious gets high marks for the endearing qualities of the cast. There are no great actors here, just good solid performances from a cast trying to breathe life into a second-rate script. The chemistry between Gibson and Walker, in particular, gives the filmgoers a Butch and Sundance duo in which they can invest their support.

Director John Singleton has fought flash-in-the-pan status since gaining universal acclaim for his first film, 1991’s brilliant Boyz N the Hood. Since then he has strove to bring the modern African-American experience to the big screen—sometimes to great effect as with Rosewood and Baby Boy, sometimes to failure as with Poetic Justice. Still, his insider’s grip on all things that go “bling” in the night transcends his outsider’s stance in mainstream Hollywood.

Singleton makes the correct decision to tone down the graphic nature of his latest film. Cars crash without carnage and guys fight with a minimum of spilt blood. Not only does it help keep the film’s cartoonish feel intact, but it also makes it easier for parents of teenagers to send them to the movie with a good conscience.

As guilty pleasures go, a good trashy film like 2 Fast 2 Furious—with its emphasis on unapologetic excitement—is hard to beat.

2 Fast 2 Furious is rated PG-13 for language, violence and a fair amount of Miami-style skin and is currently playing at Regal Cinemas in Boone.