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The adrenaline does not last

Reviewing the last Fast and Furious film I ever saw

By P F VeugelaersPublished about a year ago 3 min read
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Tyrese (left) and Paul Walker in drive thru mode in 2 Fast 2 Furious (2003)

Adrenaline movies are fun and thrilling, they deal with the chemistry of our brains. But like some things they don’t last. The racing car scenes of 2 Fast 2 Furious are exhilarating from an instinctual point of view – as one suspends their reservations and fires along on all cylinders – and as this is an adrenaline movie one does not have to worry about thinking. Much. There comes a moment in this reviewer’s experience where a conscience is pest, but I would go along with it.

So, in that vein, of letting a viewer’s mind win over matters of instinct, I found that something quite thoughtless. This movie may pretend to be more, as far as I can see.

Then again, I may be thinking too much and don’t get into the swing of things overly. In that vein, 2 Fast 2 Furious lacks real narrative drive and misses the boat (should I say miss the bus, you missed the taxi, as this is a car kind of film?)

It lacks the mis-en-scene of the dramatic where there is something more at stake, something more conflicting on display. Oh yeah, I was really wanting to feel the motor and let the adrenaline run, but second thoughts are usually reliable…There is not a pull that takes one in on the level of the theatrical and of story but is more about living off the instincts of the street. Yet not on the level of a true story of the street and the problems of mental illness, homelessness, and abandonment by society. The film is ultimately entertainment, whether it's any good, though…

John Singleton, a social conscience director, is helming the film so there should be some sort of theme regarding the heart of the street racing milieu, which I think there is, but is a very minor thing in this. One wonders if it should be there anyway, but it is a good balance to the street racing scenes.

However, the apparent theme here, of criminal diversion, seems a little out of place for a film that revs it up predominantly. Well, this surely means that any film does have the ability to communicate something even in vehicles not fit for the content. And it is here that I should say something about a street racing movie. There were concerns over copycats and leading by bad example. The film was regarded as reinforcing a social problem. And I listened to this as I wouldn’t want to support a film that gave people the wrong idea. Then again, the film seems to be not condoning street racing either.

Lots of chemistry in the car racing scenes but the leads don't have chemistry. I thought Tyrese upstaged Paul Walker, but it should not work that way because they are supposed to be two complimentary leads and Eva Mendez does not seem to fit in to proceedings as the film’s trump card. Mendez is conspicuously present and feeling out of place, upstaging the whole cast with a touch of classiness.

But Mendez isn’t in a classy film, but we get ‘feels’ from the garage. There are one or two garages here, but while it gets its hands dirty, and greases scene after scene with lubricating oil, the dialogue is another spanner in the works, while one or two slinky shots provided eye candy in scenes which looked like water world was holding a party. This movie is too cool to be true.

Which leaves the film an adrenaline rush primarily, but not a very good one. I didn’t bother to see any more Fast and Furious films after this 2003 film and when the next one came out in 2006 I thought it sounded a little less attention grabbing than the first two.

MPAA Rating: PG-13 (for street racing, violence, language, and some sensuality)

Starring: Paul Walker, Tyrese Gibson, Eva Mendes, Cole Hauser, Chris "Ludacris" Bridges, James Remar. Screenwriter: Michael Brandt, Derek Haas. Director: John Singleton.

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About the Creator

P F Veugelaers

I love using words and expressing and articulating my thoughts in stories, reviews, articles, poetry, and other kinds. First publications were the high school magazine and national youth newspaper. From there I published in various pubs.

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