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One of the issues with 2 Fast 2 Furious is that the first film at least stood out. It was new and exciting. The high speed scenes were so well done even non car fans felt their pulse quicken, imagining they were behind the wheel. This installment provides more of the same. There are plenty of cool high fives, long legs, highways and beaches, but for a sequel there are some things missing. Paul Walker is still likable as Brian O’Conner. His relationship with Roman Pearce works….but the absence of Vin Diesel is noticed. Also, the need for the characters to be engaged in high speed driving as part of this plot is a bit of a stretch.

The end result wasn’t as much of a moneymaker as the original, but Universal still made out handsomely on their investment. They put $76 million into the gas tank and were able to drive it far enough for $127 million domestically and another $109 million overseas. Universal perhaps discovered a new engine formula that worked - the foreign gross had nearly doubled.

The Fast and The Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006) 3/10

The third entry into the franchise was a substantial deviation from what was established with the first two films. The plot has Sean Boswell (Lucas Black) being sent from his high school in the U.S. to a school in Japan for disciplinary reasons related to....racing. This character has never been introduced before but is the protagonist. While in Tokyo, our Eli Manning look- a-like hero gets involved in the inner tensions of the Japanese Mafia and learns the driving discipline of drifting.

Artistically and stylistically the film isn't bad. The plot development is not awful, but this entry is miles behind the others. The use of roughhousing with vehicles as a method of solving disputes gets a bit stale. Some of the character interactions, like using the teenage romance to move tensions forward, or the having the mafia accept Boswell's presence so easily, really detract from this one.


The disconnect between Tokyo Drift and the earlier versions was noticed by audiences. Universal put $85 million into the project. It only managed $62 million at the domestic box office. It did earn another $95 million overseas. Not quite a franchise killer, it is seen as the worst of the entries. One of its few saving graces is the last 30 seconds or so, but two hours is a long time to wait to learn the reason why the story was even told.

Fast & Furious (2009) 6/10

Three years pass for us, but the film franchise goes back to its roots and plays with the order of things, and successfully gets the engine going again. Paul Walker is back as O’Conner, and Vin Diesel reprises his role as Toretto. As we reunite with the original cast, we learn that Toretto fled to the Dominican Republic and picked up his old habits of car racing and stealing truck shipments. O’Conner is a bit of a veteran in the police force now, investigating the border traffic drug trade. The paths of Toretto and Walker are woven together when Toretto’s girlfriend is murdered in drug related violence.

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