Franchise Retrospective- The Fast and the Furious and 2 Fast 2 Furious

The Fast and the Furious (2001)
Starring: Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Michelle Rodriguez
Directed by: Rob Cohen


This week, The Fast and the Furious celebrates its 15th anniversary since its original release. Wow! 15 years and 6 sequels later (with 3 more on the way), what a landmark for the modern action film. But actually, re-watching this, you can really see how the tone and direction changed over the course of these movies. Nowadays, they're heist films with an emphasis on cars, but back then, it had a larger focus on the street racing element. While the concept wasn't 100% brand new (essentially Point Break with cars instead of surfing), it was some of the other things that made this story stick out. The attention to loyalty and family that our main characters share really made this seem a little less one-dimensional than your typical action flick. It's still popcorn entertainment, but it gives the audience a little more depth they can latch onto. Even if direction switches to heist films as the sequels progress, that message of family is what has kept a lot of the fans coming back. We like that sense of morality and honor these characters have for each other and we want to see what kinds of twists and turns they endure as the sequels go on.

The real elements that hold the film together are Vin Diesel and Paul Walker as Dominic Toretto and Brian O'Conner. Those two were instant bros on-screen and I love seeing them rise to superstardom in this film. And that's the modern value of this film: a time capsule to humble beginnings. From the soundtrack consisting of Ja Rule and Limp Bizkit, to the painful CGI, to the hip lingo, this movie was really a product of its time. If you enjoy things from the early 2000s, then this is a fun nostalgia trip. But if you're grading it based on the cinematic and critical value of this franchise as a whole, The Fast and the Furious needs to have a few points deducted. For this series, I'm nostalgic so I'll give it a little leeway in the final rating.


Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Final Verdict: 15 years later and it's obvious The Fast and the Furious hasn't held up well over time. It's very much a product of the early 2000s, but it has a charm to it that I can't ignore. Give it a watch if you want to see how one of today's most prolific action franchises got its start.

The Fast and the Furious and movie images are copyrighted by Universal Pictures


2 Fast 2 Furious (2003)
Starring: Paul Walker, Tyrese Gibson, Eva Mendes
Directed by: John Singleton


The first sequel in this franchise proved to be a minor speed bump (pun intended) in the grand scheme of things, but it's a good learning experience. In 2 Fast 2 Furious, we were able to be introduced to some series regulars like Roman Pearce, played by Tyrese Gibson, and Tej Parker, played by Ludacris. These two go on to form one of my favorite bromances in the franchise, but that isn't really established here. In this film, Tej is off in the background being that guy who orchestrates the schemes and Roman is the one serves as Brian's partner in crime for this adventure. Brian and Roman aren't a bad pairing, but they aren't Dom and Brian. Naturally, they gotta try something different if they wanted to see some potential in a franchise, but this gamble wasn't too thrilling. Majority of fans were really missing that chemistry that the cast from the first film had, something that was definitely lacking to a certain extent. The fact that a lot of the supporting cast from this film doesn't show up again in any of the other films. Just kind of makes getting to know these characters feel hollow in retrospect.

Director John Singleton definitely had the idea to make a cool movie, but I think he lost sight of what the real theme for this series is. For Singleton, it was the cars, representing style. For most fans, it's the concept of the family, which represents more of a substance. That's what 2 Fast 2 Furious really lacks: substance. The first Fast and Furious movie was a revolutionary action movie for its time period and this one just felt like another car movie. In the opening race, you can see the characters racing are decked out in head-to-toe gear that color coordinates with their cars. You didn't see too much of that in the first film. It was more underground, with a bit of grittiness to it. Here, the film's style is way too colorful for its own good and lacks all kinds of subtlety. If you have a great time making a film, more power to you. These films definitely look like a blast to make, but I'm looking for things that really hold up in all the films when you go through them marathon-style like I am. In the case of 2 Fast 2 Furious, little actually held up.


Rating: 2 out of 5 stars

Final Verdict: To say that the second film in a franchise that currently has 7 entries is the lowest point for a franchise is unheard of, so take that as a minor positive. 2 Fast 2 Furious does introduce us to some important franchise characters like Roman and Tej, but the chemistry just isn't the same without Vin Diesel and company from the first film. This film was a lesson that in order to do one of these films right, you really needed to have both Diesel and Walker behind the wheel (pun intended).

2 Fast 2 Furious and movie images are copyrighted by Universal Pictures