2 Fast 2 Furious: John Singleton

I probably would have given John Singleton's 2 Fast 2 Furious a higher rating if it wasn't so blatant in its ripping off of Rob Cohen's The Fast and the Furious. More than just being a sequel, much of it feels like a straight-up retread of the original movie: Paul Walker goes undercover to take down thieves by posing as an illegal street racer. But the chemistry between Walker and his new partner Tyrese Gibson was sturdy enough to carry the film between its impressive action scenes. Well, the action scenes were mostly impressive. Some of them, particularly the first street racing scene, overused CGI to the point where it felt like we were watching a video game cutscene. But when the action scenes in this film work, they really work. The "scramble" was pure visual poetry. The image of a smoking car jutting out the back of a yacht was delightful. And the sight of a car getting crushed beneath the wheels of a 16-wheeler is one that I won't be forgetting anytime soon.

6/10