2 Fast 2 Furious

The MPAA rated 2 Fast 2 Furious (2003) PG-13 for street racing, violence, language and some sensuality.

Team a bad cop with an ex-con and you have the perfect duo to fight organized crime in the Florida Keys You also get a plot that’s fast becoming tired.

Working as a cop for the LAPD, Brian O’Connor (Paul Walker) fouled up after only a few months on the job. Now he’s lost his badge and acquired a growing list of charges on his bio. But the Miami Customs office is willing to give him a clean slate if he uses his street driving skills to infiltrate a money laundering operation run by Carter Verone (Cole Hauser). O’Connor chooses Roman Pearce (Tyrese), an old childhood friend, as his partner for the takedown. Pearce, recently released from a three-year stint in the slammer, is also looking for a fresh start off the line. Making contact with undercover FBI agent Monica Clemente (Eva Mendes), the two men have to drive like crazy to bring Verone to justice.

While the acting may be weak and the dialogue stilted, the stunts in the movie are amazing. And there lies the biggest problem with the film. Unlike the chase scenes through an ice building in James Bond: Die Another Day or the crowded streets of Prague in XXX, this film features expensive imports racing on deserted city streets. For aggressive drivers with high-speed cars and lots of time on their hands, this kind of entertainment can be far too easy to recreate in their own neighborhoods.

In addition to street racing, there are other mimicking concerns as well. To prove his driving prowess, one character turns his head to “stare” at his passenger while hurtling down the road at excessive speeds. It’s a sure way to impress a date if you’re driving on a carefully controlled movie set. But trying this stunt on the real road is likely to end in a more fatal finale. However, erratic driving in highway traffic, dodging police and peppering a squad car with bullets are just a few examples of the irresponsible behavior this film lauds. These actions never result in any reprimands or consequences for the glamorized criminals who are supposed to be the “good” guys.

Along with a jumping needle on the RPM gauge, the script is also stuck with excessive PPMs (profanities per minute), two extended scenes with crude hand gestures and scantily clad women that add little more than visual effect in this male oriented story line.

For viewers turned on by the full-throated roar of a high-powered motor, there is enough horsepower here to rev their engines. Unfortunately for impressionable family audiences even the film’s disclaimer to "never try this at home" doesn’t put the brakes on the possibility of copying 2 Fast 2 Furious' street stunts and makes it 2 reckless 2 risk.