2 Fast 2 Furious (2003)

Moving onto to the second movie of the Fast series, 2 Fast 2 Furious continues but without Vin Diesel this time.  Paul Walker takes the reins this time in the leading role.

If you missed The Fast and the Furious review, check it out HERE! This is part of a series, if you haven’t seen the first one, this review may have a few spoilers.

Let’s check it out! 🙂

2 Fast 2 Furious (2003)

Director: John Singleton

Cast: Paul Walker, Tyrese Gibson, Ludacris, Eva Mendes, Cole Hauser, Jin Auyeung, Devon Aoki, Thom Barry

After his decisions in The Fast and the Furious, Brian O’Connor (Paul Walker) is no longer a cop.  However, he now lives in the street racing world in Miami to earn a living.  When his former FBI boss approaches him to help him to catch a drug exporter (Cole Hauser), O’Connor heads out to seek his childhood friend, Roman Pearce (Tyrese Gibson) to help him out while helping them to wipe their records clean if this mission succeeds.

2 Fast 2 Furious is a mixed bag.  On one hand, there are some commendable traits to it, especially in this viewing, I’ve appreciated it a little bit more.  And no, its not just because I am missing Paul Walker and gearing up to the final goodbye of his character in this series.  I’ve always been rather forgiving of this installment. Paul Walker taking the lead role works because now its all him: whether he can carry this franchise or not.  We kind of know the answer to that already.  What works for this one is that he has a great supporting cast behind him.  Tyrese Gibson playing Roman Pearce adds an enjoyment because it brings in some chemistry.  Its like Brian O’Connor found a crew that he belongs to as he rekindles his friendship with Roman Pearce and his Miami street racing group lead by Tej (played by Ludacris).  Watching this a second time, I noticed someone that probably doesn’t exactly matter in Hollywood because he’s now huge in the Hong Kong entertainment and TV channel but that’s the garage kid called Jimmy that works for Tej played by Jin Auyeung (or now, he’s called MC Jin, also credited for doing some music for the video game Kung Fu Rider). That guy is great and I love him in the TV dramas so it was a pleasant surprise to see him in 2 Fast 2 Furious.

Maybe its my bad that I didn’t talk about villains.  Although, I guess it wasn’t about the villains in the first one so much as it is now.  2 Fast 2 Furious makes it a defined boundaries that the villain is the drug exporter and their mission is to help stop him.  Our villain in this one, although not exactly memorable is a Carter Verone, played by Cole Hauser.  This guy isn’t really menacing but I guess when you bring Eva Mendes playing Monica Fuentes who is the undercover agent who is sleeping with the enemy and has a little chemistry with Brian, things tend to get a little dicey.  This series is shaping up to be making bad relationship calls that cause tension.  Probably not exactly the impression it gets but I started having that feeling.  Of course, Brian’s chemistry is never as great as when he’s with Mia, who isn’t in this one because Vin Diesel isn’t there to play Dom.

Does it sound like I’m hating on 2 Fast 2 Furious? I’m not.  I’m indifferent to it at most.  Brian and Roman make a good team, balancing funny and serious moments together.  Without Vin, the vibe of the series has changed, not necessarily for the better, because its not nearly as good as the first but a charismatic cast and some pretty nice looking rides makes somewhat of a mark here.  This is absolute brainless fun.  Just enjoy the ride and let it flow 😉

Have you seen 2 Fast 2 Furious? What are you thoughts on it? 

Remember to drop by tomorrow to catch the review for the next in the series, Tokyo Drift! 🙂

Pitch Black (2000)

Sunday turned into prep mode for the new Riddick that opened on Friday.  Even though, I’ve read that there isn’t much connection, I still wanted to take the opportunity to rewatch it completely.  First up, we have Pitch Black!

Director: David Twohy

Cast: Vin Diesel, Radha Mitchell, Cole Hauser, Keith David, Rhiana Griffith

A group of passengers on a spaceship are travelling to a planet called New Mecca on a longer route than normal.  However, on the way, they encounter unknown problems and end up crash landing on another planet.  Since the captain dies, a young pilot Carolyn Fry (Radha Mitchell) is forced to take on as the captain and lead herself and the survivors including Johns (Cole Hauser), an officer escorting an escaped convict, Riddick (Vin Diesel), to prison.  This planet never experiences night as it has three suns surrounding it but as they look for resources to escape in the nearby deserted mining facility, they learn that every 22 years, there is an eclipse and the world gets dark for an extended amount of time.  At the same time, one of the survivors get attacked by a deadly creature that only can hunt in the dark and is attracted to blood.

This is pretty much the first time I watched Pitch Black.  The previous time, I wasn’t really interested or tired and I just remember little tidbits where I fell asleep.  The good old university days when sleeping was mostly in forms of fatigue breakdowns, definitely don’t miss those days. Either way, I’ve gained this incredible love for Vin Diesel and Riddick was one of the movies we’ve been looking forward to see.

Pitch Black is a  pretty decent sci-fi horror.  Most of the story is quite predictable and even some of the dialogue but it does have a good rhythm to it.  The characters were done really well and honestly, Riddick was pretty awesome. He had some really good lines that really broke up the intense mood. Vin Diesel really fits the role of Riddick really well. The dangerous nature that he has really builds a nice vibe for this movie.

Most of the characters were rather well too.  I couldn’t find the picture of the guy Johns who plays Riddick’s escort to prison but he played a downright a-hole and believe me, he was pissing me off.  That means he did a good job, as my boyfriend points out.  The character of Carolyn Fry was a nice balance but I think the best parts are possibly with the young boy played by Rhiana Griffith.  The admiration and respect he had for Riddick was pretty cool.  The holy man Imam played by Keith David also points out the whole concept of trust and belief.

I had a lot of fun with this movie.  I thought it was engaging and they set up the atmosphere very well.  The whole darkness pressing down and the unknown dangers that pop out.  The uncontrollable factor being Riddick and his course of action in the scenarios that come up.  The whole idea of having to trust a man like that to lead them through the dark because he’s the only one that pretty much can make it through.

I think its a good start to the Riddick series even if it was a bit predictable at times.  I’d say that if you’d like an entertaining sci-fi movie, this definitely does the job 🙂