Before A-list casts and international heists, this sequel began to shape the franchise into what it is now.
When we think of The Fast and The Furious, we think of a billion-dollar franchise with high stakes action and a cast that consists of everyone from Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson to Dame Helen Mirren. But back in 2003, this franchise consisted of two entries, neither of which epitomized the potential of this world, but both of which were necessary for it to become what it is now. The Fast and The Furious, released in 2001, introduced us to Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) and his crew of street racers as they are infiltrated by undercover cop Brian O’Conner (Paul Walker) in what is essentially Point Break on dry land.
The sequel didn’t include Dom or most of the principal cast, but the franchise’s underrated second entry and the characters it lost and gained were instrumental in turning the series into what it is now. 2 Fast 2 Furious, released in 2003, follows Brian, who has made his way to Miami after letting Dom escape from the police at the end of the first film and who is now making his money through street racing. Brian is recruited by federal agents to go undercover and take down a drug lord in exchange for his criminal record being expunged. Brian agrees to do so only under the condition that he can bring in childhood friend Roman Pearce (Tyrese Gibson) as a partner. Rounding out the cast is Chris ‘Ludacris’ Bridges as Brian’s friend and street race organizer Tej Parker, Eva Mendes as US Customs Agent Monica Fuentes and Devon Aoki as the street racer Suki.
Admittedly, losing Vin Diesel was a tough way to start 2 Fast 2 Furious. Diesel takes to action movies like a fish takes to water, and he has a gruff charisma that suits the genre. When Diesel cameoed in The Fast and The Furious: Tokyo Drift in 2006 and then came back for the lead role in 2009’s Fast & Furious, it was a welcome return. But good as he is, it’s also not completely fair to dismiss 2 Fast 2 Furious because of his absence. It helped the franchise learn some valuable lessons about what this world and these characters are and should be.
The strengths of these films have always been the chemistry between the actors more than the narratives of the movies themselves. In the first one, Walker and Diesel play off each other well, but in 2 Fast 2 Furious, Walker and Gibson are perfectly in sync with one another. Brian and Roman have some unresolved tension that arose from Brian being a cop, but once they get past it, there’s nothing but camaraderie between the two and this is hands down one of the most entertaining aspects of the film.
Diesel’s absence and subsequent return also demonstrated that it can work well to have characters in this world drift in and out of importance and roles but still be welcomed back in future films. Dom starts as Brian’s target and his intentions are questioned. Though his loyalty to his crew is admirable, Dom is sometimes more of an anti-hero than a hero. His return as the franchise’s protagonist later is the kind of turn around we’re now seeing with the Shaw brothers (Jason Statham and Luke Evans). They started as villains but have now become part of the family, and we’ll soon be seeing Statham as Deckard Shaw join Johnson’s Luke Hobbs in a spinoff.
Actors aside, there’s also a difference between the styles of the first two films. 2 Fast 2 Furious is more over the top and excessive. While the first one is relatively toned down (emphasis on relatively), the sequel goes full Dukes of Hazzard in its climax and owns it. This franchise was made to jump the shark, and to then jump an even bigger shark, and to then jump an even bigger shark. It’s entirely possible that Fast and Furious 9 will take place in outer space, so the jump from street races and car chases in the first film to Brian and Roman launching a car across a river and onto a boat and getting rid of the bad guys via ejector seat makes sense in its own way. This progression towards the more outlandish had to happen to give us the ridiculously entertaining set pieces we see now.
In particular, one scene from 2 Fast 2 Furious stands out when thinking about the latest installment, The Fate of the Furious. In one of the best scenes of the latter, Charlize Theron’s Cipher hacks thousands of cars in New York to wreak havoc. It echoes a scene in 2 Fast 2 Furious where Brian and Roman create a diversion by having hundreds of cars rush out of a warehouse they’re hiding in. As the films become increasingly more ridiculous, the zombie cars scene in The Fate of the Furious is only made better by the knowledge that while it is more over the top, it has a lot of its roots in the franchise’s second installment. These movies might be bonkers, but they’re nothing if not consistent.
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