Yet somehow, it still managed to surprise and entertain. To use the most expressive term, and at the same time the most simple... Fast and the Furious was cool. Vin Diesel was cool. Paul Walker (This new generation's Keanu) was cool. Michelle Rodriguez was cool. As were the belly of racing cars.

So the film had a lot going for it to be the success that it eventually was. A sure fire hit, with some potential for a franchise. And then the "NOS" hit the fan.

Rob Cohen dropped out when his alter boy Vin Diesel passed. Therefore, Michelle Rodriguez was gone as well... leaving poor ole Paul Walker and a few cool cars to take on the world of the franchise. Hope was gained with the signing of the much underused Cole Hauser followed by the once great John Singleton in the directors chair.

The final product... a waste of time with a few cheers and cool scowls along the way.

Brian (Paul Walker) is now booted from the force, due to his illegal actions that the first film ended with (letting Vin go). He's now in Miami street racing for money when he's nabbed by the cops and given a deal to erase his record in exchange for working undercover to bring down a crime boss, played by Cole hauser. He agrees, but only if he gets to choose his own partner... an old chum with a record of his own, played by "YAWN" rapper-turned-actor Tyrese. Throw Eva Mendes into the mix and you have a great follow up despite the losses from the first film right? Wrong.

What follows is a dead end story, lifted only by some spectacular car stunts and action.

Paul Walker holds his own in this train wreck of a script, while Tyrese does what most rapper-turned-actor does (besides Cube that is)... try to hard to be overtly cool and bad ass. Eva Mendes? Well, she sure does look good!

Walker and Tyrese are assigned to be recruits for Hauser's bright idea of using racing cars to transport drug money from Miami to the Keys. This leads to an entertaining "prove your worth" race of drivers that leads to full carnage with our two lead actors left with the win at the finish line.

I could describe each and every action sequence... and I could even say that each of them makes this film worth the watch. But things have changed in Hollywood. That's not good enough anymore. We live in a film age where we've seen so many things up on that screen that we become a bit too spoiled I guess. Crashing cars, high speed chases, explosions galore... it's all too familiar. The first film had SOME heart, some depth. We realized that the villian wasn't REALLY a villian. The focus of the film was the true relationship between Diesel and Walker... machoisms and all.

2 FAST didn't have that.

In the end, we're left with a sizable count of mayhem. Mayhem is fun... but it's not enough anymore.

Ken Miyamoto