2 Fast 2 Furious
2 Fast 2 Furious is a 2003 action film directed by John Singleton from a screenplay by Michael Brandt and Derek Haas, from a story by Brandt, Haas, and Gary Scott Thompson. It is the sequel to "The Fast and the Furious" (2001), is the second installment in the "Fast & Furious" franchise, and stars Paul Walker as Brian O'Conner alongside Tyrese Gibson and Eva Mendes. In the film, outlaws O'Conner and Roman Pearce (Gibson) go undercover for the U.S. Customs Service to apprehend a drug lord in exchange for the erasure of their criminal records. A  second "Fast & Furious" film was planned immediately after the theatrical release of its predecessor in 2001, and was confirmed with the returns of Walker and producer Neal H. Moritz. Vin Diesel and Rob Cohen, the co-star and director of the first film, were unable to return; Gibson and Singleton joined the cast in their absence in 2002. To canonically account for Diesel's departure, the short film "The Turbo Charged Prelude for 2 Fast 2 Furious" (2003) was produced and released. Principal photography for "2 Fast 2 Furious" commenced in September 2002 and lasted until that December, with filming  locations including Miami and the surrounding areas in southern Florida. "2 Fast 2 Furious" premiered at the Universal Amphitheatre on June 3, 2003, and was theatrically released worldwide by Universal Pictures on June 6. The film received mixed to negative reviews from critics, with criticism for its screenplay and lack of originality, but received some praise for its lighthearted tone. "2 Fast 2 Furious" was a commercial success, grossing over $236 million worldwide, making it the 17th highest-grossing film of 2003 and the then-highest grossing film in the franchise. The standalone sequel film, "", was released in 2006 . Plot. After letting Dominic Toretto escape from the authorities, disgraced LAPD officer Brian O'Conner flees from Los Angeles to escape prosecution. He subsequently relocates to Miami and makes a living participating in illegal street races, driving a heavily modified silver Nissan Skyline GT-R R34. The races are organized by his local mechanic friend Tej Parker. After winning a race against drivers including Suki, the police show up and Brian is arrested. He is taken into custody, but given a deal by his former boss FBI Agent Bilkins and U.S. Customs Agent Markham to go undercover and bring down Argentinian  drug lord Carter Verone in exchange for clearance of his criminal record. Agent Monica Fuentes, who has been undercover with Verone for a year, agrees to assist bringing Brian into the organization. Brian agrees on the condition that he is given permission to choose his own partner. This prompts Brian to travel to Barstow, where he enlists the help of childhood friend Roman Pearce, who served jail time for housing stolen cars in a garage and currently making a living as a demolition derby driver. Roman, currently on parole, gets into a brief fight and blames Brian for his arrest , but reluctantly agrees to help in exchange for the same deal Brian was offered. For their mission, they are issued two confiscated, modified cars—a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VII and a Mitsubishi Eclipse Spyder GTS. Roman and Brian compete against rival drivers to obtain a package from a confiscated Ferrari located in a lot with Verone hiring the drivers who get it. During the race, some of the hired drivers crash while a few are injured by big rigs. Markham, who mistakenly thinks that the duo is trying to run away, follows them to the lot. The police ambush spooks  Roman, who shoots at Markham to help maintain his cover. Roman later confronts the agent for interfering with the mission. Brian is able to salvage the situation, however, telling Bilkins that Verone is allegedly aiming to launder his money in Miami before escaping on his private jet. Brian and Roman challenge a pair of muscle car drivers they raced when competing for Verone's hiring, for pink slips. Despite engine and power output handicaps, they win the race and obtain the rival cars—a 1969 Yenko Camaro SYC and a 1970 Dodge Challenger R/T previously driven by the hired  drivers. Roman later confronts Brian about the constant threat of Verone's men; however, they patch up their differences and focus on completing the mission. At the VIP section of a nightclub, Brian and Roman witness Verone torturing MPD Detective Whitworth into giving his men a window of opportunity to make their getaway. The next morning, Monica warns them that they will be killed once the drop is made. Despite this, Markham refuses to call off the job, claiming that it is their one chance to catch Verone. On the day of the mission, Brian and Roman begin transporting duffel  bags of Verone's money with Verone's associates—Enrique and Roberto—riding alongside to accompany them. Before the window is set, Whitworth decides to call in the police to move in for an arrest of the drivers of the cars used by Brian and Roman. This results in a high-speed chase across the city, with Bilkins and U.S. Customs also tracking them. The duo leads the cops to a warehouse, where a "scramble" by hundreds of street racers organized by Tej disorients the cops. Following the scramble, the police manage to pull over the Evo and the Eclipse , only to find out that they were driven by Tej and Suki. As it turns out, the duo had switched cars and had escaped in the two muscle cars they had won earlier. As Brian approaches the destination point in his Camaro, Enrique tells him to take the Tarpon Point Marina exit, instead of heading to the airfield. Meanwhile, Roman gets rid of Roberto by using an improvised ejector seat in his Challenger powered by nitrous oxide. At the airfield, Customs agents have Verone's plane and convoy surrounded, only to discover they have been duped into a decoy maneuver  while Verone is at a boatyard several miles away. Verone reveals he knew Monica was an undercover agent, and purposely gave her wrong information on the destination point. When Brian arrives at the Marina, Verone forces Monica onto his private yacht and orders Enrique to kill Brian. As Enrique prepares to kill him, Brian's ejector seat fails, but Roman suddenly appears and helps Brian to incapacitate Enrique. Verone makes his escape, but Brian and Roman use the Camaro to drive off a ramp, crashing on top of the yacht. Brian shoots and wounds Verone moments before he was about  to shoot Brian and Roman with his shotgun, making him miss, who is then arrested by Monica. Markham grants Brian and Roman full pardons, and in return Roman turns over the second half of Verone's cash. The two agree to stay in Miami, and Brian suggests opening a garage – funded by a cut of Verone's cash Roman kept for themselves. Cast. Producer Neal H. Moritz makes a cameo appearance as a police officer during a chase scene. Production. Development. Plans to make a sequel came about after the box office success of "The Fast and the Furious", which  grossed over $200 million worldwide. John Singleton had seen the first film and was awed by it, saying: "When I saw "The Fast and the Furious", I was like, 'Damn, why didn't I think of that?' Growing up in South Central L.A., we had street races all the time." Singleton's rave reaction of the film as well as the culture of street racing in general influenced his decision to direct the sequel. The director also claimed that the concept of street racing could be something young audiences can relate to. The screenplay was written by Michael Brandt  and Derek Haas, along with Gary Scott Thompson (the co-writer from the first film). There were two film treatments submitted early on, one of which did not involve Vin Diesel's character in the event the actor would not return for the sequel. Singleton credited "Top Gun" as a major influence for the film, particularly with regard to the action sequences. Pre-production. Vin Diesel was offered $25 million to return in the sequel as Dominic Toretto. However, he refused after reading the screenplay as he felt that its potential was inferior compared to that of its predecessor ; rather, he chose to appear in "The Chronicles of Riddick". According to "Variety" magazine in 2015 he was less taken with what the screenwriters had in mind for the film, "They didn't take a Francis Ford Coppola approach to it. They approached it like they did sequels in the '80s and '90s, when they would drum up a new story unrelated for the most part, and slap the same name on it." However, Diesel reflected on his decision in a July 2014 report from Uproxx, saying: "I would've said, 'Don't walk away from it just because the  script sucked in "2 Fast 2 Furious" because there's an obligation to the audience to fight, no matter what, to make that film as good as possible.' ... I might have had a little bit more patience or belief in the long-term of it." Paul Walker, who had just finished "Timeline" at the time, reprised his role in the second picture as Brian O'Conner. Tyrese Gibson, then known mononymously as Tyrese, also became a part of the cast having previously acted in Singleton's "Baby Boy", which was the singer's feature film acting debut; he portrayed Roman Pearce . Ja Rule, another prominent rap artist who appeared in "The Fast and the Furious", was originally tapped for the role of Tej Parker. Ja Rule was offered $500,000 for the role, which was more than what he had been paid to appear in "The Fast and the Furious", $15,000. According to Singleton, "Ja got too big for himself. He turned it down. He turned down a half a million dollars. ... He was acting like he was too big to be in the sequel. He wouldn't return calls." The director then hired Chris "Ludacris" Bridges as a substitute . Bridges would later rise to prominence for appearing in the film and star in later films such as "Crash" and "Hustle & Flow". Additional cast also included Cole Hauser as key villain Carter Verone, who appeared in Singleton's "Higher Learning"; Eva Mendes as undercover agent Monica Fuentes; and Devon Aoki as Suki, the sole female driver in the film. Filming. Principal photography began in the fall of 2002, and Matthew F. Leonetti served as the director of photography. Filming was done mostly in various parts of South Florida such as Miami Beach, Seven Mile Bridge, and Homestead Air Reserve Base . Hauser's character's mansion was shot in Coral Gables, in a house owned by Sylvester Stallone. A car enthusiast himself, Walker drove a Nissan Skyline GT-R model R34 borrowed from the film's Technical Advisor, Craig Lieberman, in the film's opening scenes. Aoki did not have a driver's license or any driving experience prior to the film's production, and took driving lessons during filming; she drove a pink 2001 Honda S2000 AP1 in the film. Gibson drove a convertible Mitsubishi Eclipse Spyder, while Michael Ealy drove a Toyota Supra Turbo MkIV model JZA80 that had  been used by Walker in "The Fast and the Furious". Music. The musical score was composed by David Arnold. The soundtrack was released on May 27, 2003 on Def Jam Recordings, the same record label that Ludacris was signed to. Release. Box office. "2 Fast 2 Furious" earned $50.5 million in its U.S. opening in 3,408 theaters, ranking first for the weekend. In its 133 days in release, the film reached a peak release of 3,418 theaters in the U.S. and earned $127.2 million in the US, taking the number #1 spot off of "Finding Nemo". The film  had the 15th largest US gross of 2003 and the 16th largest worldwide gross of 2003; combined with the international gross of $109.2 million, the film earned $236.4 million worldwide. Critical response. On Rotten Tomatoes, "2 Fast 2 Furious" has an approval rating of 36% based on 160 reviews and an average rating of 4.75/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "Beautiful people and beautiful cars in a movie that won't tax the brain cells." On Metacritic it has a weighted average score of 38 out of 100, based on reviews from 36 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable  reviews". Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on scale of A+ to F. Todd McCarthy of Variety magazine wrote: "While this John Singleton-directed sequel provides a breezy enough joyride, it lacks the unassuming freshness and appealing neighborhood feel of the economy-priced original." Scott Tobias of The A.V. Club wrote: "Singleton abandons the underground racing subculture that gave the first film its allure, relying instead on lazy thriller plotting that's only a bag of donuts and a freeze-frame away from the average TV cop show." USA Today's Mike Clark gave  film 2 out of 4, and wrote "The movie is all about racing, and character be damned, though the still dazed-looking Walker and Tyrese finally get a little rapport going after a worn-out story's very rocky start." He concludes "Lack of pretension helps the viewer get over the fact that this is just another retread. " Roger Ebert of the "Chicago Sun-Times" gave the film 3 out of 4 and said, "It doesn't have a brain in its head, but it's made with skill and style and, boy, it is fast and furious." In 2018 , Derek Lawrence of the "Entertainment Weekly" called it "the forgotten Fast and Furious gem" and praised the chemistry between Walker and Gibson and John Singleton's direction. In 2019, Bilge Eberi of Vulture also praised the movie especially Singleton’s direction.